📉 Stock Slump Alert! Asian shares plummeted on Friday as doubts over the artificial intelligence (AI) boom and renewed U.S. tariffs sent shockwaves through global markets. Major indexes in Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea all fell over 2%, following Wall Street’s sharp decline.
💥 What’s Behind the Market Meltdown?
AI Bubble Concerns 🤖💭 – Tech stocks took a beating as investors questioned whether AI-driven rallies were sustainable.
Trump’s Tariff Hike 🇺🇸🔁🌎 The former U.S. president announced a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada and doubled tariffs on Chinese goods to 20%, fueling fears of trade wars and inflation spikes.
📊 How the Markets Reacted:
🇯🇵 Japan’s Nikkei 225 sank 3.4% to 36,939.89, hit hard by tech sell-offs. Avantest plummeted 9.4%, Disco Corp. plunged 11.1%, and Tokyo Electron fell 5.3%.
🇭🇰 Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 2.3% to 23,175.49, while 🇨🇳 China’s Shanghai Composite slipped 0.9% to 3,358.28.
🇰🇷 South Korea’s Kospi fell 3.2% to 2,538.07.
🇦🇺 Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 1.1% to 8,174.10.
📉 Wall Street’s Rough Ride
On Thursday, U.S. markets took a dive:
S&P 500 📉 -1.6% to 5,861.57
Dow Jones 📉 -0.4% to 43,239.50
Nasdaq Composite 📉 -2.8% to 18,544.42
🔎 What’s Next?
With the S&P 500 falling in five of the past six sessions, investors are worried about inflation, potential job losses from government cuts, and how new tariffs could disrupt trade. Will the market recover, or is this just the beginning of a bigger correction?
