Asian Stocks Poised to Fall as Trade Fears Linger: Markets Wrap

Sujata Rao and Richard Henderson

Fri, Mar 21, 2025, 4:51 AM 3 min read

(Bloomberg) — Global stocks stumbled as a batch of downbeat corporate earnings fanned fresh concerns in a market that’s already grappling with the prospect of a damaging US trade war.

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Europe’s Stoxx 600 index slid 0.8%. IAG SA, the owner of British Airways and other airlines, fell more than 3% after London’s Heathrow airport was shuttered by a major fire nearby.

S&P 500 futures dropped 0.4%, with the index facing an additional test on Friday in the form of so-called triple witching, an event that can stoke volatility as options contracts worth $4.5 trillion head for expiry. A gauge of Hong Kong technology stocks fell 3.4%.

Investors are confronting an increasingly cloudy outlook for the global economy, with President Donald Trump planning a series of broad reciprocal tariffs on April 2. While the Federal Reserve indicated this week it sees room to cut interest rates, many economists fret the inflationary impact of tariffs will hinder central banks from delivering support to slowing economies.

“You’ve seen President Trump’s policies inject the market with a wave of uncertainty that we’ve not seen for many years,” said Todd Jablonski, global head of multi-asset and quantitative investments at Principal Asset Management, on Bloomberg Television.

Latest results from FedEx Corp. — considered an economic barometer — highlighted the risk to corporate earnings, as the company cut its profit outlook, citing cost pressures and weaker demand. Nike Inc. also blamed tariffs and geopolitics for hurting its earnings.

The risk-off sentiment lifted Bloomberg’s dollar index for a third day. Gold also held near record highs, as several banks raised their price forecasts for the haven asset.

In commodities, oil prices edged higher after the US sanctioned a Chinese refinery, a marked step-up of measures to curb supply from Iran.

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.8% as of 8:40 a.m. London time

• S&P 500 futures fell 0.4%

• Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.5%

• Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4%

• The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.5%

• The MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell 0.8%

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%

• The euro fell 0.2% to $1.0828

• The Japanese yen fell 0.4% to 149.31 per dollar

• The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.2566 per dollar

• The British pound fell 0.3% to $1.2928