Asian shares recover after Wall St gains, as markets waver under threat of more tariffs

Bangkok, Apr 1 (AP) Asian shares were mostly higher on Tuesday after US stocks swayed higher as President Donald Trump's fast-approaching “Liberation Day” Wednesday sends stock markets swinging sharply worldwide.

Instead of stocks, prices have been rising for investments considered to be safer bets when the economy is looking shaky. Gold rose early Tuesday to over $3,170.00 per ounce before falling back slightly.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 was virtually unchanged at 35,624.48, as Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he was imploring Trump to not impose higher auto tariffs on Japan, a longtime US ally. A central bank survey found a worsening in business sentiment among big manufacturers.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng rose 0.2% to 23,173.75, while the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.4% to 3,348.44.

South Korea's Kospi jumped 1.6% to 2,525.44, while the S&P/ASX 200 surged 1% to 7,925.20.

Taiwan's Taiex shot up 2.8%, while the Sensex in India lost 0.2%. Bangkok's SET advanced 1.1%.

On Monday, the S&P 500 rose 0.6% to 5,611.85. It finished March with a 4.6% loss for the first three months of the year, the worst quarter in two-and-a-half years.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1% to 42,001.76, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.1% to 17,299.29, pulled lower by slides for Tesla, Nvidia and other Big Tech stocks.

Such neck-twisting turns have become routine for the US stock market because of uncertainty about what Trump will do with tariffs - and by how much they will worsen inflation and grind down growth for economies. Wall Street's swings followed a sell-off that spanned the world earlier Monday as worries built about the effects of the tariffs that Trump says will bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States.

Wednesday, the United States is set to begin what Trump calls “reciprocal” tariffs tailored to match what he sees is the burden each country places on his, including things like value-added taxes. Much is still unknown, including exactly what the US government will do on “Liberation Day”.

At Goldman Sachs, economists expect Trump to announce an average 15% reciprocal tariff. They also raised their forecast for inflation and lowered it for US economic growth for the end of the year.

They now see a 35% chance of recession in the next year, up from an earlier forecast of 20%, “reflecting our lower growth forecast, falling confidence, and statements from White House officials indicating willingness to tolerate economic pain,” according to Goldman Sachs economist David Mericle.

If the April 2 tariffs end up being less onerous than investors fear - maybe Trump includes no additional tariff increases on China, for example - stocks could rally. But a worst-case scenario could make businesses so fearful they start cutting their workforces and stocks could sink much further. And it's possible April 2 won't clear the uncertainty.

Even if Trump's tariffs end up being less harsh than feared, the lack of clarity might lead US households and businesses to freeze their spending, stifling the economy.

Tesla fell 1.7% on Monday to bring its loss for the year so far to 35.8%. It's been one of the year's worst performers in the S&P 500 in large part because of fears that the electric-vehicle maker's brand has become too intertwined with its CEO, Elon Musk.

Musk has been leading US government efforts to cut spending, making him a target of growing political anger, and protests have swarmed Tesla showrooms as a result.

On the winning side of Wall Street was Mr Cooper, which jumped 14.5% after the home loan servicer said it's being bought by mortgage company Rocket in an all-stock deal valued at $9.4 billion. The deal comes just weeks after Rocket acquired real estate listing company Redfin, and Rocket's stock fell 7.4%.

Newsmax surged 735% in a dizzying first day of trading for the stock of the news company. Its price was so volatile that trading of its stock was briefly halted a dozen times through the day.

In other dealings early Tuesday, US benchmark crude fell 8 cents to $71.40 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, lost 5 cents at $74.72 per barrel.

The dollar fell to 149.64 Japanese yen from 149.97 yen. The euro rose to $1.0805 from $1.0817. (AP) SCY

Source: PTI