Investors' Nightmare Continues: Taiwan's Market Tanks 10%, Hong Kong Sees Worst Crash In 16 Years

Asian share markets continued to paint a bleaker picture for investors as the economies tried to brave through the aftermath of the staggering tariffs introduced by US President Donald Trump.

On Monday, benchmark indices across the continent continued to bleed, making it feel like a never-ending nightmare for traders. The fresh tariffs announced by the Trump administration last week triggered concerns of a global trade war as China decided to retaliate with its own duties on American imports.

Taiwan Suffers Record Single-Day Fall

As such, indices in Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, etc began the trading week with huge losses. Taiwan's stock market suffered its steepest-ever one-day decline on Monday, tumbling almost 10 per cent in the first trading session since the US announced a fresh round of tariffs last week, reported Reuters.

 The sharp selloff followed a long weekend break and came in response to Washington’s decision to impose a 32 per cent duty on Taiwanese imports—a move that directly targets one of the US' largest trade surplus partners.

President Lai Ching-te turned to social media to address the economic blow, reaffirming Taiwan’s commitment to closer ties with the US. “To ensure Taiwan's competitiveness, we'll increase US imports & adopt other measures. Working together, we'll usher in a golden age of shared prosperity,” Lai wrote on X. He also stressed that Taiwan would not pursue retaliatory action and instead would initiate discussions around a bilateral “zero tariffs” framework.

Also Read : Monday Terror Continues: Rupee Opens 16 Paise Weaker At 85.63 Vs US Dollar, RBI MPC Begins

Hong Kong's Index Sees Worst Day In Over 16 Years

Further, around 12:30 PM (Indian Time), Hong Kong's Hang Seng index crashed more than 12 per cent, marking the worst day for the index in more than 16 years.  Back home, the Indian benchmark indices continued to trade with Monday blues. The BSE Sensex plummeted more than 3,300 points or close to 4.5 per cent and traded a little over 72K, while the NSE Nifty50 nosedived over 1,000 points or 4.65 per cent to remain under 21,850.

Meanwhile, the RBI Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting began on Monday wherein the regulator will decide on key interest rates going ahead. The central bank will have to factor in the impact of the US tariffs on Indian economy and how to balance protecting the domestic players, consumers, and growth.

business