Fears over the future health of the global economy are continuing to rattle markets around the world, as investors grapple with the reality of tariffs and fresh signs that consumers are pulling back on spending.
After the S&P 500 suffered its worst day of the year on Monday, the sell-off continued into Asia trading on Tuesday.
Asian markets opened mostly lower, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 index falling about 2 percent, weighed down by big declines in Japanese technology stocks. Stock markets in South Korea and Taiwan also fell around 2 percent in early trading.
Equity markets in China were faring slightly better. Shares in Shanghai and Shenzhen ticked lower, down around 0.2 percent in morning trading. Hong Kong was down less than 1 percent.
Investors have become increasingly cautious about the U.S. stock market in recent weeks as President Trump has flip-flopped on tariffs, causing confusion and uncertainty.
Growing unease about the inflationary effects of the tariffs, coupled with a broadly darkening mood about the economy, provided the catalyst for a sell-off in a market that investors have long worried was overvalued.
While current economic data has remained robust, surveys of consumers, business leaders and economists are growing pessimistic. Analysts at JPMorgan now say there is a 40 percent chance for a global recession
Technology stocks tumbled in the United States on Monday. Tesla shares plunged more than 15 percent, as investors assess falling sales and worry that the company’s chief executive, Elon Musk, has been distracted by his role in the Trump administration. Shares of Alphabet, Apple and Nvidia each fell more than 4 percent.
Technology shares also declined in Japan, with Sony, SoftBank, Hitachi and Fujitsu each falling more than 4 percent during trading early Tuesday morning. Other tech declines in Asia included the chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and the Apple supplier Foxconn in Taiwan, both down by about 3 percent.
Shares of the Japanese automakers Toyota Motor and Honda Motor, as well as the South Korean automakers Hyundai Motor and Kia, dipped slightly. Nissan Motor, which has struggled more than others with slumping sales and political headwinds, saw its stock price fall more than 4 percent on Tuesday.
Japanese and South Korean automakers are expected to be particularly damaged by a potential 25 percent tariff on foreign cars that Mr. Trump has indicated could take effect as soon as April 2.
In a note on Friday, Goldman Sachs said the stocks making up the main equity indexes in Taiwan, South Korea and Japan would be the most exposed in Asia if the Trump administration imposed a universal tariff on trading partners.
Late on Monday, Delta Air Lines issued another warning signal. The airline announced that it had cut its profit forecast for the first three months of the year, saying that rising economic worries among consumers was denting demand for air travel.
In a statement, Delta blamed the decline in demand on a “recent reduction in consumer and corporate confidence caused by increased macro uncertainty.”
The Trump administration has offered little to assuage investors’ fears, continuing to drive a hard line on tariffs on the major U.S. trading partners Canada, Mexico and China. Over the weekend, Mr. Trump refused to rule out the possibility that his policies would cause a recession.
