Asian markets struggled today as traders keep a nervous eye on Donald Trump’s next moves after he signed off on tariffs for steel and aluminium imports and warned of more measures to come.
All three main indexes started the week on the front foot thanks to a rally in tech firms.
But Asia struggled to maintain its momentum from yesterday,with Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Mumbai, Jakarta and Manila falling.
Seoul, Wellington, Bangkok and Taipei rose, while Sydney was flat.
The president has lived up to his campaign pledges to resume his hardball trade diplomacy to extract concessions on a range of issues, including commerce, immigration and drug trafficking.
While the moves have jolted sentiment, equities have held up since Trump took office — London and Frankfurt even hit record highs yesterday— with analysts saying measures have so far been less severe than feared.
