US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs have sent shockwaves across global markets. In Asia, Chinese equity markets led Monday’s meltdown, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index plunging over 10%. Japan’s Nikkei tumbled to an 18-month low, forcing a halt in futures trading after hitting the lower circuit. Indian markets are also mirroring the global sentiment — both the Sensex and Nifty opened sharply lower, deep in the red.
Mayhem On Wall Street
Early signs from the US are just as grim — pre-market trade showing a 900-point drop for the Dow Futures. This follows the wipeout Wall Street witnessed last week. On Friday, the benchmark Dow Jones tanked 2,231-points, posting back-to-back losses of over 1,500 points for the first time in its history. The S&P 500 also slipped 6% in Friday’s session, clocking its worst performance since COVID-19 breakout in March 2020. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite entered a bear market, slipping 22% from its record.
Trump On Market Crash
Responding to a question on his tolerance of the US stock market meltdown US President Donald Trump said, “I think your question is so stupid. I don't want anything to go down, but sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something — and we have been treated so badly by other countries, because we had stupid leadership that allowed this to happen.”
The US President once again slammed other nations, accusing them of ripping of the US. He said, “They took our businesses, they took our money, they took our jobs, they moved it to Mexico, they moved it to Canada, they moved a lot of it to China, and it’s not sustainable. We are not going to do it. Now, we have hundreds of billions of dollars pouring into our country, on a monthly basis. It’s pouring, it’s already started, because I put tariffs on. Eventually, it’s going to strike down and our country will be solid and strong again.”
