The Asian markets were boosted by recoveries in Japan, while in Europe, Frankfurt, Paris, and London all opened up on yesterday’s close.
Shares around the world broadly recovered on Tuesday as markets calmed from the panic after U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff announcements.
The gains led off in Tokyo where the Nikkei 225 rose to just over 6 percent, closing at
33,012.58, coming off a few days of steep sell-offs.
Comparatively, Chinese markets saw a modest increase after the nation’s sovereign wealth funds stepped in to buy shares, with the
CSI300 adding 1.7 percent.
Hong Kong’s
Hang Seng climbed 1.6 percent after its 13.2 percent nosedive on Monday, the steepest drop since the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
South Korea’s
Kospi picked up 0.3 percent to 2,334.23, while the
S&P/ASX 200 in Australia climbed 2.3 percent to 7,510.00.
However, not all Asian markets experienced a recovery, with the Taiwan Weighted Index falling another 5 percent, just a day after suffering its worst tumble on record.
Thai stocks also fell nearly 6 percent in catch-up selling from a holiday on Monday, while Indonesia returned from a week-long holiday to 9 percent losses.
However, the general trend for Asia was still positive, with MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares adding 1.7 percent to climb from its lowest level since February 2024, but much of the rebound came from Japanese shares.
European Markets Recover
European shares picked up on a 14-month low in early trading on Tuesday after four straight sessions of heavy selling, though investors remained wary of tariff-related changes.The pan-European STOXX 600, which tracks 600 companies across 17 European countries, rose 1 percent by 0709 GMT, after dropping 12.1 percent in the past four sessions as investors worried about a possible global recession.
Germany’s Frankfurt Stock Exchange rose 0.8 percent to 19,975.8, while the Cotation Assistée en Continu 40 in Paris was up 1.3 percent at 7,018.79 and London’s FTSE 100 also picked up 1.3 percent to 7,804.73.
The Politics
The modest rebound for most markets followed a shocking day for traders on Monday, which saw stocks tumble after Trump threatened to crank his double-digit tariffs even higher.The European Commission proposed counter-tariffs of 25 percent on a range of U.S. goods on Monday as the 27-member bloc struggles with tariffs on cars, aluminum, and steel already in place, and faces a 20 percent tariff on other products on Wednesday.
The same day, European Commission President
Ursula von der Leyen once again brought up the proposal of a “zero for zero” tariffs deal on cars and industrial goods.
The reason, she said, is “because Europe is always ready for a good deal.” She cautioned, however, that the EU is “also prepared to respond through countermeasures” and defend its interests.
Trump rejected the proposal later that day, telling reporters in the Oval Office during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that it was not good enough. He then suggested that EU countries import more energy from the United States.
Early on Tuesday,
China’s Commerce Ministry said it would “fight to the end” and take as yet unspecified countermeasures against Washington after Trump threatened another 50 percent tariff on Chinese imports.
The ministry said it will not accept Trump’s demands and called on the U.S. government to rescind its tariff measures against China, according to its statement.
Soon after, Trump said he may raise tariffs more against Beijing after the world’s second-largest economy retaliated last week with its own set of tariffs against U.S. products.
Chris Scicluna, head of economic research at Daiwa Capital Markets in London, told Reuters: “The mood is a little brighter, at least if you are looking at certain markets such as Japan, which might be a priority for trade deal, but there is lots of uncertainty. Markets could continue to be extremely volatile.”
Gold Rises
Gold prices also moved higher on Tuesday amid global trade tensions.Spot price gold rose 0.9 percent to $3,008.32 an ounce by 10:30 a.m. GMT, after hitting its lowest level since March 13 on Monday.
Spot price gold—the price at which gold can be bought or sold for immediate delivery, not at some future date—remains nearly 15 percent higher for the year, driven by geopolitical and economic uncertainties, strong central bank demand, and increased flows into gold-backed exchange-traded funds.
Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
