US tariffs disrupt world markets

International stock markets, commodity prices, and digital assets on Monday continued to be shaken by the uncertainties over new US tariffs announced last week.

Last Wednesday, US President Donald Trump announced the imposition of sweeping reciprocal tariffs on over 180 countries, ranging from 10% to 50%.

The EU got reciprocal tariffs of 20%, China 34%, Vietnam 46%, Taiwan 32%, Japan 24%, India 26%, South Korea 25%, Thailand 36%, Switzerland 31%, Indonesia 32%, Malaysia 24%, Cambodia 49%, South Africa 30%, Bangladesh 30%, and Israel 17%.

Some countries, such as Türkiye, the UK, Brazil, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, New Zealand, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, got minimal 10% reciprocal tariffs each.

- Stocks in the red

Major Asian and European stock markets racked up significant losses on Monday.

The Asia Dow, which tracks leading blue-chip companies across the region, fell 9.48% to 3,626.77 points as of 1430GMT.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index lost 7.8%, closing at 31,136.58 points.

The Hang Seng Index, a key benchmark for Hong Kong's blue-chip stocks, plunged 13.22% to close at 19,828.30 points – its worst single-day performance in 16 years.

China's Shanghai Stock Exchange dropped 7.34% to 3,096.58 points, while India's Sensex index shed 2.95%, closing at 73,137.90.

Germany's DAX index posted a loss of around 4.4% to 19,727.93 Monday as of 1430GMT.

Britain's FTSE100 index lost 4.4% to 7,702.71 points and France's CAC 40 index dropped 4.65% to 6,936.64.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index also fell 4.8% to 472.46.

Last week, US stocks ended Friday significantly lower as the Dow plunged 5.50%, or 2,231.07 points, to 38,314.86, its largest drop since June 2020.

The S&P 500 slipped 5.97%, or 322.44 points, to close at 5,074.08, its biggest fall since March 2020, also off more than 17% from its recent high.

The Nasdaq fell 5.82%, or 962.82 points, to 15,587.79, taking the index down 22% from its December record, entering a bear market.

The VIX Index, also known as the “fear index," rose 50.93% to 45.31.

- Commodities post mixed figures, mostly negative

On Monday, as of 1430GMT, the barrel price of Brent oil dropped 2.25% to $64 while natural gas prices were unchanged.

The ounce price of gold lost 0.45% to $3,024. Last week it saw over the $3,100 level. The price of silver rose 2.09%.

The price of copper dropped 5.1% and steel lost 2.43%.

Coffee prices fell 2.2%, palm oil 3.4%, and corn 0.17%, while sugar and rice prices were unchanged, and cotton rose 2.16% and wheat 1.45%.

- Digital assets

Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, was down 7% as of 1440GMT on a daily basis to $76,930.

Ethereum, with the second-largest market cap, fell 15.78% to $1,503.

The overall digital currency market dropped 7.72% to $2.44 trillion, Coinmarketcap data showed.

Ripple also lost 14.66% to $1.76.