Asian markets fall up to 3% as Trump plans to levy additional tariffs, all you need to know before market opens on Feb 28

Indian benchmark indices continued to reel under external pressure for the 15th consecutive trading session on Thursday. The markets are expected to continue to underperform on Friday, and global market cues indicate a negative opening. The Asian markets traded in deep red with losses of up to 3% after President Trump announced to impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico from next week and warned extra 10% tariffs on China.

Following the development, the gold prices fell below $2,900 levels, and the dollar index jumped above 107.

US Markets

The US markets closed broadly in the red, with major losses led by tech stocks as Nvidia stock price fell nearly 9% post-earnings. The NASDAQ fell 2.78%, followed by the S&P500 1.5% and Dow Jones 0.45%. Additionally, Trump announced the start of the tariffs on Canada and Mexico as early as next week and warned to impose an additional 10% tariff on China, which further soured the global market sentiments.

Asian Markets

On Friday morning, the Asian markets faced the brunt of tariff news, which led to a sharp correction in all the major Asian indices. The Japanese Nikkei index fell 3%, followed by the Korean Kospi at 2.7% and Hong Kong’s Hangseng at 1.5%. The sharp cut in the Asian index was largely due to concerns over economic stability in the region after Trump announced the levy of additional tariffs on China.

Crude oil price

Crude oil prices witnessed gains overnight as tariff concerns led to a sharp rally from lower levels. WTI crude oil prices jumped 1.7% to $70.51 per barrel, and Brent crude oil prices crossed the $73 per barrel mark on Thursday.

FII and DII

On Thursday, the FIIs sold a little over ₹500 crore worth of Indian equities and held on to their short positions in the derivatives market for the March series as well. The DIIs bought Indian equities worth ₹1,727 crore on Thursday.