Asian shares fall despite Wall St rebound as investors eye trade war moves

Asian shares were mostly lower on Thursday despite a rebound on Wall Street fuelled by an encouraging update on US consumer prices.

US futures fell and oil prices were little changed.

Chinese markets slipped as investors watched for the next steps in President Donald Trump's trade war. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index shed 0.7 per cent to 23,426.80, while the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.4 per cent to 3,357.02.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 gained 0.5 per cent to 37,014.82.

South Korea's Kospi edged 0.1 per cent lower, to 2,573.05. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.4 per cent to 7,756.10.

Taiwan's Taiex shed 0.4 per cent and the Sensex in India edged 0.1 per cent higher. Bangkok's SET slipped 0.1 per cent.

 

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 gained 0.5 per cent to 5,599.30 after skidding between an early gain of 1.3 per cent and a later loss. The unsettled trading came a day after the index briefly fell more than 10 per cent below its all-time high set last month.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average also pinballed sharply before ending with a loss of 0.2 per cent at 41,350.93. The Nasdaq composite climbed 1.2 per cent to 17,648.45.

The inflation report showed overall prices rose less for US consumers last month than economists expected.

Companies in the artificial-intelligence industry led gains, bouncing back after AI stocks got crushed recently by worries their prices had gone too stratospheric.

Nvidia climbed 6.4 per cent to trim its loss for the year so far to 13.8 per cent. Server-maker Super Micro Computer rose 4 per cent, and GE Vernova, which is helping to power AI data centres, gained 5.1 per cent.

Elon Musk's Tesla, whose price had more than halved since mid-December, rallied 7.6 per cent for its first back-to-back gain in nearly a month.

But more stocks in the S&P 500 fell than rose. Among the hardest hit were businesses that could be set to feel pain because of Trump's trade war.

Brown-Forman, the company behind Jack Daniel's whiskey, tumbled 5.1 per cent, and Harley-Davidson sank 5.7 per cent.

US bourbon and motorcycles are among the products the European Union is targeting with its own tariffs on US products. The moves were in response to Trump's 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum that kicked in earlier in the day.

Canada also hit back with tariffs announced on U.S. tools, sports equipment and other products.

We deeply regret this measure, European Union President Ursula von der Leyen said. Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business, and worse for consumers.

The question hanging over Wall Street is how much pain Trump will let the economy endure through tariffs and other policies.

Even if Trump ultimately goes with milder tariffs, damage could still be done. The dizzying barrage of on -again, off -again announcements on tariffs has already begun sapping confidence among U.S. consumers and businesses by ramping up uncertainty. That could cause U.S. households and businesses to spend less, hurting the economy.

On Tuesday, for example, Trump said he would double 25 per cent tariffs announced on Canadian steel and aluminum, only to walk it back later in the day after a Canadian province pledged to drop a retaliatory measure that had incensed Trump.

Several US businesses have said they've already begun seeing a change in behaviour among their customers.

Delta Air Lines sank 3 per cent to compound its drop of 7.3 per cent from the prior day, when the carrier said it's seeing demand weaken for close-in bookings for its flights.

Casey's General Stores, the Ankeny, Iowa-based company that runs nearly 2,900 convenience stores in 20 states, offered some encouragement. Its stock rose 6.2 per cent after it reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected thanks in part to strength for sales of hot sandwiches and fuel. It also kept steady its forecast for upcoming revenue this year.

Wednesday's inflation report came at a time when worries are mounting that Trump's tariffs will drive prices even higher as US importers pass on their costs to their customers.

It's also helpful for the Federal Reserve, which had been cutting interest rates last year to boost the economy before pausing this year, partly because of concerns about stubbornly high inflation.

In other dealings early Thursday, US benchmark crude oil lost 11 cents to $67.57 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gave up 5 cents to $70.90 per barrel.

The U.S. dollar fell to 147.88 Japanese yen from 148.25 yen. The euro rose to $1.0889 from $1.0887.