Asian stock markets fell Wednesday after the Trump administration announced it plans to slap tariffs on a further $200 billion of Chinese imports.
Read: U.S. unveils tariffs on another $200 billion of Chinese goods
But benchmarks recovered from session lows, with indexes in China, Hong Kong and Japan all down around 1.5%. Australia’s S&P/ASX XJO, -0.66% , Korea’s Kospi and Taiwan’s Taiex Y9999, -0.69% narrowed their declines to less than 1%, while New Zealand’s benchmark NZ50GR, -0.01% was little changed. S&P 500 futures ESH9, -0.76% fell 0.8%
After three days of solid gains, Japan’s Nikkei NIK, -1.38% was last down 1.3%, with exporters hit the hardest. Automakers Honda 7267, -1.62% , Toyota 7203, -0.59% and Nissan 7201, -2.50% all fell, while chip-equipment maker Advantest 6857, -1.44% and imaging manufacturer Canon 7751, -0.96% dropped around 1%.
Tech and auto companies also weighed down South Korea’s Kospi SEU, -0.67% , with Samsung 005930, -0.97% and Hynudai 005380, -2.02% slipping about 1%.
In China, the Shanghai SHCOMP, -1.62% and Shenzhen 399106, -1.81% composites recovered slightly after falling more than 2% in early trading. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng HSI, -1.40% also stemmed early losses, with Tencent 0700, -1.91% and AIA 1299, -0.74% posting declines.
