Asian shares trade mixed amid investor worries after Wall Street tumble
Apr 21, 2025, 9:38 PM | Updated: Apr 22, 2025, 9:16 am
A currency trader watches monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
TOKYO (AP) 鈥� Asian shares were trading mixed amid global skepticism about U.S. investments and President Donald Trump鈥檚 trade war.
Trading was cautious in Asia, where the benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 0.3% to 34,174.38. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was virtually unchanged, inching up less than 0.1% to 7,820.20. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.2% to 2,493.19. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped less than 0.1% to 21,387.51, while the Shanghai Composite added 0.3% to 3,301.59.
On Wall Street the previous day, the S&P 500 sank 2.4% in another wipeout. That yanked the index that鈥檚 at the center of many 401(k) accounts 16% below a record set two months ago.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 971 points, or 2.5%, while losses for Tesla and Nvidia helped drag the Nasdaq composite down 2.6%.
U.S. government bonds and the value of the U.S. dollar also sank as prices retreated across U.S. markets. That’s an unusual and worrying move because Treasurys and the dollar have historically strengthened during episodes of nervousness. This time around, though, it鈥檚 policies directly from Washington that are causing the fear and potentially weakening their reputations as some of the world鈥檚 safest investments.
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AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.
