Equities in Asia slumped on Friday, Feb. 28, amid concerns over an escalating global trade war triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats. The U.S. dollar reached multi-week highs against major currencies, impacting commodities like gold and oil. Technology shares faced additional declines following Nvidia’s earnings report. Safe-haven currencies, the yen and Swiss franc, strengthened. Trump announced 25% duties on imports from Canada and Mexico effective March 4, with further tariffs on Chinese and EU goods. This has led to market uncertainty and anticipation of potential stimulus measures from China. U.S. economic data has been lackluster, prompting expectations of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts. Investors await key economic indicators, including the PCE deflator and non-farm payrolls. Oil prices remained stable, while cryptocurrency bitcoin saw a decline. Reporting by Kevin Buckland; Editing by Sam Holmes. — news from Reuters
