Hang Seng Index plummets 13% in worst rout in decades amid all-out US-China tariff war

Asian stock markets plunged across the region on Monday, kicking off the trading week on the weakest footing in decades, as the world braced for shock waves from the tit-for-tat tariff war between China and the US.

Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index slumped 13.2 per cent to 19,828.30 at the close of trading on Monday, marking its biggest decline since October 1997. It was the lowest level since January 23.

All 14 major equity gauges in the Asia-Pacific region fell, with 11 of them hitting their lowest in at least 52 weeks. Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid 7.8 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi Index retreated 5.6 per cent, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 4.2 per cent and Singapore’s Straits Times Index dropped 8 per cent.

“We expect the ‘tariff threat’ to remain an overhang for Asia-Pacific stock markets in [the second quarter] of 2025,” wrote Patrick Pan and Yue Tan of Daiwa Capital Markets. “With rising geopolitical uncertainties, we expect overall market sentiment to cool further.”