Asian shares sink, with Japan’s Nikkei down 5.6% as China-U.S. trade war escalates

Asian shares plummet after U.S. stocks reverse gains, yen surges, and China announces countermeasures, impacting global markets.

Asian shares sank Friday (April 11, 2025) after U.S. stocks reversed much of their historic gains from the day before.

The deepening worries over U.S. President Donald Trump’ s trade war initially helped pull Japan’s Nikkei 225 share index down 5.6%.

By mid-morning in Tokyo, it was down 4.7% at 32,969.95. The yen surged against the U.S. dollar, which also lost value against the euro. One dollar bought 143.48 Japanese yen, down from about 146 yen a day earlier. The euro rose to $1.1305 from $1.1195.

South Korea's Kospi fell 1.6% to 2,400.34, while in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 shed 2.1% to 7,552.10.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 tumbled 3.5%, slicing into Wednesday’s surge of 9.5% following Trump’s decision to pause many of his tariffs worldwide. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,014 points, or 2.5%, and the Nasdaq composite tumbled 4.3%.

But China announced more countermeasures against the United States and losses for U.S. stocks accelerated after the White House clarified that the United States will tax Chinese imports at 145%, not the 125% rate that Trump had written about in his posting on Truth Social Wednesday, once other previously announced tariffs were included. The drop for the S&P 500 exceeded 6% at one point.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 188.85 points Thursday to 5,268.05. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,014.79 to 39,593.66, and the Nasdaq composite sank 737.66 to 16,387.31.