Asian shares were poised for their worst drop in a month as concerns about upcoming US tariffs and a widening trade war weighed on investor risk appetite.
Gold rose to a record on demand for safe havens. A regional gauge of equities fell 1.3% and Taiwan’s index touched the lowest level since September as technology companies weighed.
Japanese shares dropped partly due to Friday being the ex-dividend date for most companies in the fiscal year-end. Cryptocurrencies retreated and yields on the 10-year US Treasury fell slightly.
Equity-index futures for Europe showed stocks may be under pressure while contracts for US were little changed.
From New York to London and Hong Kong, investors are cutting back risk ahead of President Donald Trump’s plan to announce so-called ‘reciprocal tariffs’ on April 2, after slapping levies on imports of all automobiles into the country.
Traders, already wary of how the moves will impact inflation and growth in the US economy, are chalking up different strategies to deal with the situation.
