Japan’s Shares Fluctuate as Scale of Trump’s New Tariffs Eyed
Japanese shares are fluctuating Monday, with automakers, non-ferrous metal firms and shippers gaining amid expectations that President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs could be more measured than had previously been suggested.
Banks dropped, and precision equipment, mining, and other oil-related stocks were also weak, keeping the benchmark indexes little changed from last week.
Topix Index fell 0.1% to 2,800.46 as of 9:16 a.m. Tokyo time.
Nikkei advanced 0.1% to 37,732.23.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. contributed the most to the Topix Index decline, decreasing 0.7%. Out of 1,692 stocks in the index, 571 rose and 1,035 fell, while 86 were unchanged.
“If the US mutual tariff targets from April are limited to major countries, with some exceptions, the negative impact on the global economy will be limited,” said Shoji Hirakawa, chief global strategist at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Lab.
US financial authorities recognize that the impact of tariffs on the country’s inflation is temporary, so even if the personal consumption expenditure price index for February due out on March 28 is somewhat high, expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut are likely to continue, Hirakawa said.
Source : Bloomberg
