Stocks climb as Trump tariffs push dollar to four-month low

Asian shares were mostly higher overnight following a rocky session on Wall Street after Canada, Mexico and China were hit by steep US tariffs that took effect on Tuesday.

The Nikkei (^N225) rose 0.2% on the day in Japan, while the Hang Seng (^HSI) soared 2.8% in Hong Kong.

The Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) was 0.5% up by the end of the session after China announced it intends to keep its economy growing at around a 5% annual pace in 2025, in line with last year’s target.

This was as it opened the annual session of its largely ceremonial legislature. Premier Li Qiang also promised more government spending and other measures to support growth.

Across the pond, US stocks racked up more losses on Wall Street as the trade war between the world’s largest economy and its key trading partners escalated.

The Trump administration imposed 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico starting Tuesday and doubled tariffs against imports from China by 20%.

All three countries announced retaliatory actions, sparking worries about a slowdown in the global economy.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell 1.2% to 5,778.15, with more than 80% of the stocks in the benchmark index closing lower. The Dow (^DJI) slid 1.6% to 42,520.99.

The Nasdaq (^IXIC) composite slipped 0.4% to 18,285.16. The tech-heavy index briefly reached a 10% decline from its most recent closing high, which is what the market considers a correction, but gains for Nvidia (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT) and other tech heavyweights helped pare those losses.

Financial stocks were among the heaviest weights on the S&P 500 index. JPMorgan Chase (JPM) fell 4% and Bank of America (BAC) lost 6.3%.