Stock markets across Asia suffered significant losses on Monday, as President Donald Trump’s hardline trade policies and sweeping tariffs continue to rattle global financial markets. Investors reacted sharply to the escalating economic uncertainty, triggering a new wave of sell-offs.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell by 6.3%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index recorded a staggering 9.8% plunge—its steepest one-day decline in years. The downturn in Asia comes on the heels of last week’s global market rout, with analysts warning that continued volatility could deepen fears of a looming recession.
The tremors are already reverberating across the Atlantic. US futures were sharply lower early Monday, signaling that Wall Street is likely to open with steep losses. If the trend holds, it will mark yet another dramatic dip in global equity markets sparked by escalating trade tensions between the United States and its key partners, particularly China.
President Trump, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, remained defiant in the face of growing market anxiety. “Sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,” Trump said, defending his protectionist measures. He maintained that the tariffs are necessary to address what he called decades of unfair trade practices and to protect American industries.
Economists, however, warn that the tariffs—especially if met with retaliation—could stifle global economic growth and damage fragile supply chains.
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