After a run of big losses across markets, equities staged a mild recovery on Tuesday.
Tokyo, which has borne the brunt of the pain owing to hefty selling of car giants including Toyota and Honda, edged up along with Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Taipei, Bangkok, Singapore and Wellington. Mumbai dipped.
London, Paris and Frankfurt rose in the morning.
But the rebound was as fragile as that seen in New York, where the S&P 500 rose on Monday but closed its worst quarter since 2022.
With uncertainty reigning, gold – a go-to safe haven in times of turmoil – chalked up another record, hitting US$3,149.00.
That came after Wall Street’s so-called VIX “fear index” rose for a fourth successive day.
“We continue to think that markets including Asia forex are underpricing the magnitude of these tariffs, and our North Star is for Trump to be more aggressive than many think possible in a significant structural change to the post-World War II global order, beyond the day-to-day policy whiplash and uncertainty,” said Michael Wan at MUFG.
