Hong Kong, Taiwan markets drop as Asia-Pacific markets fall on Trump tariff fears

ASIAN markets fell at the open on Monday (Feb 3) after US President Donald Trump announced tariffs on goods from China, Canada and Mexico over the weekend.

As at 10 am on Monday, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.7 per cent, Australia’s ASX 200 fell 1.6 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei 225 traded 2.1 per cent lower, and South Korea’s Kospi Composite Index lost 2.7 per cent.

Taiwan’s Taiex dropped more than 3 per cent upon resumption of trade after the holidays. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company fell over 6 per cent and Hon Hai Precision Industry declined more than 7 per cent in early trade, as investors fled those shares following the rout in the US – notably Nvidia, and some global markets on the shake-up by Chinese artificial intelligence company DeepSeek.

Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell sharply by 1.5 per cent, but pared losses marginally to recover to 0.6 per cent, as at 10.05 am, while Malaysia’s FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index traded 0.3 per cent lower.

Chinese markets remained closed for the Chinese New Year holiday.

On Saturday US time (Sunday Singapore time), Trump ordered 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports and 10 per cent on goods from China starting on Tuesday, to address a national emergency over fentanyl and illegal immigration to the US.

Energy products from Canada, however, face a reduced 10 per cent duty, following concerns from oil refiners.

Ahead of the implementation of tariffs, Wall Street stocks ended lower last Friday. The S&P 500 lost 0.5 per cent, the Nasdaq Composite closed 0.3 per cent lower, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.8 per cent.

On the other hand, shares in Europe closed at a record high, led by gains in technology stocks. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed 0.1 per cent higher.