Japan’s Nikkei Stock Sheds over 1,000 Points in Morning (UPDATE 1)

Jiji Press

10:08 JST, February 3, 2025 (updated at 10:55 JST)

Tokyo (Jiji Press)—Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average lost more than 1,000 points temporarily Monday morning, with a wide range of issues coming under selling pressure due to U.S. President Donald Trump’s high tariffs policy.

At 9:24 a.m., the index of 225 selected issues listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Prime section stood at 38,454.38, down 1,118.11 points, or 2.83 pct, from Friday.

On Friday, Trump announced a levy of 25 pct on Canadian and Mexican imports and an additional 10 pct tax on Chinese goods that would come into force on Tuesday. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country will retaliate against Trump’s new tariffs with a 25 pct levy on U.S. imports.

In the Tokyo stock market, broad-based selling was triggered partly by concerns that “if retaliatory tariffs are widely exchanged among major economies, trade would stagnate, which may lead to a global economic downturn,” said an official of a Japanese investment management company.

Although there still is a possibility that the application of the new tariffs could be avoided at the last minute, the trend among investors in Tokyo is to lower risks by reducing their holdings and selling futures for now, a Japanese brokerage house official said.