Asia stocks fall as US tariffs remain after court twist
Asian stocks have slipped and the US dollar sagged with Treasury yields as investors digested an appeals court keeping President Donald Trump's tariffs in effect, a day after markets rallied on a separate ruling blocking most of them.
Japan's Nikkei saw the most pronounced selling on Friday, after experiencing the most pronounced buying on Thursday, with moves in the exporter-heavy index exacerbated by the ebb and flow in demand for the safe-haven yen.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington temporarily reinstated Trump's duties on Thursday while it considers the government's appeal. On Wednesday, a little-known trade court had unanimously ruled Trump overstepped his authority, and tariffs were the jurisdiction of Congress not the president.
Either way, senior Trump administration officials said they were undeterred and expected either to prevail on appeal or to employ other powers to ensure the tariffs remain.
The Nikkei dropped 1.7 per cent in the Asian morning, putting it basically back at Wednesday's closing level. The yen strengthened about two per cent from its low on Thursday to last change hands at around 143.48 per dollar. A stronger yen reduces the value of overseas revenues.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng sank 1.4 per cent and mainland China's blue chip index eased 0.3 per cent in early trading.
South Korea's KOSPI fell 0.5 per cent while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was off 0.4 per cent.
"Trump's trade agenda remains alive and kicking, with the legal battle adding yet another layer of uncertainty," said Rodrigo Catril, senior FX strategist at National Australia Bank.
"The only thing that looks more certain is more uncertainty," which will lead to additional delays in investment decisions and hiring, he said.
US S&P 500 futures retreated 0.2 per cent. The cash index rose 0.4 per cent overnight, but that was largely the effect of resilient Nvidia financial results from after the market close on Wednesday, to which Asian shares already had a chance to react.
Pan-European STOXX 50 futures edged 0.1 per cent lower.
The 10-year US Treasury yield was steady at 4.42 per cent on Friday, following a 5.5 basis point slide on Thursday.
Safe-haven gold was little changed at $US3,311 per ounce, following a 0.8 per cent advance in the previous session. Risk-sensitive bitcoin slipped to a 10-day low of $US104,714.35.
Both Brent and US West Texas Intermediate crude eased 0.3 per cent early on Friday, to $US63.97 and $US60.75 per barrel, respectively.
Despite the uncertainty injected by the courtroom drama, the Trump administration said negotiations with top trading partners continue unabated. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent noted during an interview with Fox News that he is scheduled to have talks with a high-level Japanese delegation later on Friday in Washington.
Trump had already paused his Liberation Day tariff rates on most trade partners for 90 days to July 9 and set a baseline rate of 10 per cent in the meantime in order to give time for some of them to hammer out deals.
So far though, apart from a broad agreement with Britain, deals remain elusive. Bessent said in the interview with Fox News that talks with China are "a bit stalled," and may need the direct involvement of Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to get across the finish line.
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