Asia-Pacific markets fall after Trump’s tariffs on Indonesia

Asia markets kick starts Wednesday trading lower
Asia markets started the trading day lower.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 was flat at the open, while the Topix slipped 0.11% as of 8.04 a.m. local time (8.04 p.m. ET Tuesday).
South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.5% and the small-cap Kosdaq was 0.56% lower.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.82%.
— Lee Ying Shan
Opening calls from Singapore
Good morning from Singapore and happy mid-week. Asia markets are poised to open mixed. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 was set to open marginally lower, with the futures contract in Chicago at 39,660 while its counterpart in Osaka last traded at 39,600, against the index’s last close at 39,678.02.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was also set to start the day lower with futures tied to the benchmark at 8,545, compared with its last close of 8,630.3.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index, however, stood at 24,622, pointing to a stronger open compared to the HSI’s last close of 24,590.12.
Investors will be keeping an eye on Indonesian stocks after U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he has reached a preliminary trade deal with Indonesia, which will impose a 19% tariff on the Southeast Asian country’s U.S. exports.
— Lee Ying Shan
Stock futures are little changed
Stock futures were little changed on Tuesday evening, with investors awaiting fresh corporate earnings and inflation data.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average pulled back 47 points, or 0.1%, while S&P 500 futures dipped 0.1%. Nasdaq 100 futures slipped 0.1%.
— Brian Evans
Trump-backed digital asset bills fall short in Congress, crypto-linked stocks slide
Chesnot | Getty Images
Several crypto-related legislative measures failed to beat a key procedural hurdle in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
The vote came in at 196 to 223, with 13 Republican lawmakers siding with Democrats to block the procedural motion.
The vote comes after President Donald Trump encouraged Republican lawmakers to vote in favor of the measure. “The House will soon VOTE on a tremendous Bill to Make America the UNDISPUTED, NUMBER ONE LEADER in Digital Assets – Nobody does it better!” he wrote on Truth Social earlier Tuesday.
Crypto-linked stocks traded lower, with Circle Internet Group dropping 4% and Coinbase Global losing 1%. Bitcoin also slipped below the $117,000 threshold, dropping more than 2% on the day.
–Erin Doherty, Darla Mercado
S&P 500, Dow end Tuesday in the red
The S&P 500 dropped 0.4% on Tuesday to close at 6,243.76. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 436.36 points, or 0.98%, ending at 44,023.29.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was the only bright spot in Tuesday’s market. The Nasdaq rose 0.18% to settle the session at 20,677.80.
— Pia Singh