Asia-Pacific markets pare losses following Wall Street selloff; Japan’s Nikkei down 1.7%

Asia-Pacific markets slid on Tuesday, tracking losses in the U.S. following anxiety over tariff policy and a potential recession in the world’s largest economy.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.7%, paring steeper losses earlier in the session, while the broader Topix index fell 2%.

Significant losses in the Nikkei 225 were seen in telecommunications company Fujikura, which was down 7.43% and heavy-equipment manufacturer IHI Corp, which lost 6.51%.

Japan’s revised GDP for the fourth quarter came in at 2.2% on an annualized basis, below economists’ expectations and the previous estimate of 2.8% growth.

Over in South Korea, the Kospi was trading 1.53% lower, while the small-cap Kosdaq dipped 1.4%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.9% in early trade, while Mainland China’s CSI 300 fell 0.2%.

Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Taiex index was down 1.84%, paring losses from an over 3% drop earlier in the session.

Elsewhere, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.9%, reversing course from gains in the previous session.

Overnight in the U.S., stocks slid amid fears that Trump’s tariff policy could push the U.S. into a recession.

The S&P 500 shed 2.7%, after touching its lowest level since September at one point. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite saw the sharpest decline, falling 4%, in its worst session since September 2022. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 2.08%, ending at 41,911.71.

The S&P 500 is off 8.7% from its all-time high on Feb. 19, while the Nasdaq Composite is off nearly 14% from its recent high. A 10% decline is considered a correction on Wall Street.

The losses worsened as the day progressed, but the major averages came off their session lows just before the close.

— CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Jesse Pound contributed to this report.