Updated March 31, 2025 at 04:20 AM ET
HONG KONG (AP) — Asian shares tumbled Monday, with benchmarks in Tokyo and Taiwan falling more than 4%, while the price of gold hit a record high at nearly $3,150 an ounce.
Investors have pulled back and sought traditional safe havens like gold as worries build over a potentially toxic mix of worsening inflation and a U.S. economy slowing because households are afraid to spend due to the deepening trade war that has escalated under U.S. President Donald Trump.
U.S. futures and oil prices were lower.
Thailand's SET lost 1.5% after a powerful earthquake centered in Myanmar rattled the region, causing widespread destruction in the country, also known as Burma, and less damage in places like Bangkok.
Shares in Italian Thai Development, developer of a partially built 30-story high-rise office building under construction that collapsed, tumbled 27%. Bangkok's governor said authorities would investigate the cause of the disaster, which left dozens of construction workers missing.
Globally, the trade war is the abiding focus. Many of the countries that run trade surpluses with the U.S. and depend heavily on export manufacturing are in Asia, Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.
"Asia is ground zero. Of the 21 countries under USTR (U.S. Trade Representative) scrutiny, nine are in Asia," he noted.
Tokyo's benchmark fell 4.1% to 35,617.56, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 1.2% to 23,135.01.
The Shanghai Composite index declined 0.5% to 3,335.67.
In South Korea, the Kospi fell 3% to 2,481.12, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 sank 1.7%, closing at 7,843.40.
Taiwan's Taiex lost 4.2%.
On Friday, the S&P 500 dropped 2% to 5,580.94, for one of its worst days in the last two years. It was its fifth losing week in the last six.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 715 points, or 1.7%, to 41,583.90, and the Nasdaq composite fell 2.7% to 17,322.99.
Lululemon Athletica led the market lower with a drop of 14.2%, even though the seller of athletic apparel reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.
Oxford Industries, the company behind the Tommy Bahama and Lilly Pulitzer brands, likewise reported stronger results for the latest quarter than expected but still saw its stock fall 5.7%.
One of the main worries hitting Wall Street is that President Donald Trump's escalating tariffs may cause U.S. households and businesses to freeze their spending. Even if the tariffs end up being less painful than feared, all the uncertainty may filter into changed behaviors that hurt the economy.
A report on Friday showed all types of U.S. consumers are getting more pessimistic about their future finances. Two out of three expect unemployment to worsen in the year ahead, according to a survey by the University of Michigan. That's the highest reading since 2009, and it raises worries about a job market that's been a linchpin keeping the U.S. economy solid.
A separate report also raised concerns after it showed a widely followed, underlying measure of inflation was a touch worse last month than economists expected.
The Fed could return to cutting interest rates, like it was doing late last year, in order to give the economy and financial markets a boost. But such cuts would also push upward on inflation, which has been sticking above the Fed's 2% target.
The economy and job market have been holding up so far, but if they were to weaken while inflation stays high, it would produce a worst-case scenario called "stagflation." Policy makers in Washington have few good tools to fix it.
Stock markets worldwide appear shaky as a Wednesday deadline approaches for more tariffs. Trump has dubbed it "Liberation Day," when he will roll out tariffs tailored to each of the United States' trading partners.
In other dealings early Monday, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 4 cents to $69.32 per barrel. Brent crude oil fell 2 cents to $72.74 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar fell to 149.02 Japanese yen from 149.84 yen. The euro rose to $1.0839 from $1.0803.
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