Japanese Shares End Lower As Trump Signals Tariff Action
Japanese shares ended lower on Thursday after US President Donald Trump signaled plans to set unilateral tariff rates within weeks, ahead of a July 9 deadline to reimpose higher duties on multiple economies.
The Nikkei 225 fell 0.65%, or 248.1 points, to end at 38,173.09.
Trump announced that the U.S. would inform trading partners about the new unilateral tariff terms within a span of one to two weeks, implying that countries would receive an ultimatum.
He made similar remarks in mid-May but has previously missed self-imposed deadlines, raising uncertainty over whether the move will proceed as stated.
In economic news, sentiment among large Japanese manufacturers fell further to -4.8 in Q2 2025 from -2.4 the previous quarter, missing forecasts for a rebound to 0.8%.
The Business Survey Index hit its lowest since Q1 2024, as firms struggled with U.S. trade barriers, including tariffs imposed in April. Despite the decline, manufacturers expect sentiment to rise to 5.7 in Q3 and 8.4 in Q4.
Among corporate movers, SBI Rheos Hifumi (TYO:165A) reported that its end-May AUM rose to 1.330 trillion yen, up 67.4 billion yen from April, driven by investment gains and net inflows.
Kringle Pharma (TYO:4884) received U.S. FDA orphan drug status for KP-100IT, its treatment for acute spinal cord injury.
Nidec (TYO:6594) said a Tokyo court awarded damages to Chairman Shigenobu Nagamori in a defamation suit over articles by Diamond Inc.
Source: MT Newswires
