(Bloomberg) — Asian stocks fell for a sixth straight session \u2014 the longest losing streak this year \u2014 as President Donald Trump announced new tariff rates and solid earnings from megacap tech firms failed to lift sentiment.<\/p>\n
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The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 0.6%, with technology stocks such as Tokyo Electron leading the declines. South Korean shares slumped 2.9%. Contracts for the S&P 500 fell 0.1% after paring earlier losses. Trump announced a slew of new tariffs, including a 10% global minimum and 15% or higher duties for countries with trade surpluses with the US.<\/p>\n
The dollar edged higher Friday after posting its first monthly gain since Trump took office in January. The Taiwan dollar fell for a seventh consecutive day, the longest losing streak since June 2023, as the island got a 20% tariff rate. The Swiss franc edged lower after Trump put a 39% levy on the country\u2019s exports to the US.<\/p>\n
The moves signaled that concerns over tariffs and economic growth were starting to outweigh the AI-driven optimism that has buoyed megacap tech stocks. While artificial intelligence remains a pillar of long-term bullishness, investors are bracing for potential trade disruptions as the US and key partners weigh new levies.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe announcement brings clarity on paper, but uncertainty in practice,\u201d said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo Markets. \u201cWhile markets now know the numbers, the lack of a clear framework behind these tariffs \u2014 and the seemingly arbitrary rates \u2014 only reinforces the sense of policy unpredictability. This makes it harder for businesses and investors to plan ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n
The White House issued a statement just hours before midnight, the deadline Trump set last month after pausing his country-based tariffs for a second time to allow for negotiations. It was unclear exactly when the new rates would take effect.<\/p>\n
Markets Live Strategist Garfield Reynolds says:<\/p>\n
We\u2019re now officially entering the era of substantial barriers to trade. The impact will hurt global trade and growth, and that\u2019s likely to bring equities down from their recent peaks. Lingering uncertainty will also weigh on corporate decision-making, further chilling growth. While most of the levies just announced are lower than the extremes flagged on April 2, there\u2019s a lack of rationale for many of the rates set that will add to the air of policy volatility.<\/p>\n
Story Continues <\/p>\n
Some of the tariffs were expected, such as a 25% levy on Indian exports. Others included charges of 20% on Taiwanese products, 39% on Swiss goods and 30% on South African products. Thailand and Cambodia, two countries that were said to have struck a last-minute deal, received a 19% duty.<\/p>\n
Taiwan and the US haven\u2019t yet held a summary meeting due to scheduling conflicts and the tariff rate of 20% is temporary, according to a statement from Taiwan\u2019s cabinet. Taiwan will work to reach an agreement with the US as soon as possible to seek a further reduction in reciprocal tariffs.<\/p>\n
Read the Full List of US Tariff Rates on Global Trading Partners<\/p>\n
\u201cMarkets, which learned the hard way in April, have since then grown accustomed to tariffs being negotiated lower or them leading to trade deals and\/or extensions, reducing initial concerns,\u201d wrote Tony Sycamore, market strategist at IG Australia Pte. \u201cThe combination of these factors has kept market volatility low at this point of time.\u201d<\/p>\n
US stocks fell Thursday, erasing an initial advance on tech earnings that sent Microsoft Corp. above $4 trillion in market value. Apple Inc. shares rose in after-market trading following a sales beat, while those for Amazon.com Inc. fell as its outlook underwhelmed.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Trump sent letters to 17 of the largest pharmaceutical companies in a bid to lower prices, weakening their shares Thursday. Trump is also asking bank chief executive officers for their pitches on monetizing mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, including a major public offering of stock, according to people familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n
The market\u2019s attention will soon turn to Friday\u2019s jobs report for July, which is forecast to show companies are becoming more deliberate in their hiring. Employment likely moderated after a June increase, while the unemployment rate is seen ticking up to 4.2%.<\/p>\n
Corporate Highlights:<\/p>\n
Apple Inc. reported its fastest quarterly revenue growth in more than three years, easily topping Wall Street estimates.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Amazon.com Inc. dropped in late trading after projecting weaker-than-expected operating income.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Tokyo Electron Ltd. shares dived 18% \u2014 the most in nearly a year \u2014 after the chip tool maker slashed its full-year earnings outlook.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp.\u2019s second-quarter profit topped estimates thanks to a fee jump.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Shein Group Ltd.\u2019s net income rose to over $400 million and revenue was almost $10 billion in the first quarter as consumers snapped up the fast-fashion retailer\u2019s products ahead of US tariffs.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Asian pharmaceutical companies that sell products in the US slid after Trump demanded drug companies lower US prices.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Some of the main moves in markets:<\/p>\n
Stocks<\/p>\n
S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 12:02 p.m. Tokyo time<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Japan\u2019s Topix rose 0.4%<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Australia\u2019s S&P\/ASX 200 fell 0.7%<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Hong Kong\u2019s Hang Seng was little changed<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
The Shanghai Composite fell 0.2%<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 0.2%<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Currencies<\/p>\n
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
The euro was little changed at $1.1413<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
The Japanese yen was little changed at 150.74 per dollar<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.2156 per dollar<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Cryptocurrencies<\/p>\n
Bitcoin fell 0.5% to $115,928.7<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Ether fell 0.6% to $3,712.48<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Bonds<\/p>\n
The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.38%<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Japan\u2019s 10-year yield was little changed at 1.540%<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Australia\u2019s 10-year yield advanced five basis points to 4.32%<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Commodities<\/p>\n
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.<\/p>\n
–With assistance from Winnie Hsu and Joanne Wong.<\/p>\n
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek<\/p>\n
\u00a92025 Bloomberg L.P.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Bloomberg) — Asian stocks fell for a sixth straight session \u2014 the longest losing streak this year \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":308254,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3091],"tags":[3662,51,78666,2441,6202,112983,10216,31405,112982,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-308253","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-markets","8":"tag-bloomberg","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-losing-streak","11":"tag-markets","12":"tag-president-donald-trump","13":"tag-saxo-markets","14":"tag-tariff-rate","15":"tag-tariff-rates","16":"tag-tokyo-electron","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114951460248257483","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=308253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/308254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=308253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=308253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=308253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}