Anxiety and uncertainty over U.S. tariffs and economic retaliation from China have caused foreign markets to plunge on Monday. European and Asian stock markets were the first to experience the economic fallout this week.
Asian markets were hit particularly hard.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng dropped 13.22% to 19,828.30 on Monday, the Associated Press reported. Additionally, the SSE Composite Index on the Shanghai Stock Exchange fell 7.34% to 3096.58, Taiwan’s Taiex decreased 9.7% to 19232.35, and KOSPI in South Korea fell 5.57% to 2328.20. In Japan, Tokyo’s Nikkei dropped 7.83% to 31136.58.
Europe experienced similar economic downturns.
Italy’s stock market index, the IT40, dropped over 7% to 32234, and Spain’s ES35 fell 6.1% to 11667. Great Britain’s FTSE 100 dipped 5% to 7652.73, and Paris’s CAC 40 lost 5.9% to 6844.96, the Associated Press reported. Meanwhile, Germany’s DAX plunged 6.5% to 19311.29.
Markets in the U.S. are expected to mirror their international counterparts and experience major losses upon opening on Monday morning. On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 5.5% to 38314.86, the Nasdaq dipped 3.8%, and the S&P 500 plunged 6%, the Associated Press reported.
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Given the number of countries included in the U.S. tariffs and the economic complexities involved, many experts believe that market volatility will continue for some time in the immediate future.
“Ultimately, our take is market uncertainly and volatility are likely to persist for some time,” Nathan Thooft, chief investment officer and senior portfolio manager at Manulife Investment Management, told the Associated Press.