China World Trade Center.
Dukai Photographer | Moment Open | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets were set to fall Tuesday, tracking Wall Street declines overnight after U.S. President Donald Trump made it clear that tariffs on Mexico and Canada would go into effect as planned.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 was set to open lower, with the futures contract in Chicago at 37,345 while its counterpart in Osaka last traded at 37,300, against the index’s last close of 37,785.47.
Japan’s employment rate for January came in at 2.5%, slightly higher than Reuters’ estimates of 2.4%.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 22,910 pointing to a weaker open compared to the HSI’s close of 23,006.27.
Investors will be keeping a watch on Chinese stocks ahead of the country’s annual parliamentary gathering, known as the “Two Sessions,” which will kick off later in the day.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 started the day 0.92% lower.
South Korea’s retail sales for January fell 0.6% from the previous month.
Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes fell as Trump reiterated that 25% levies on imports from Mexico and Canada would go into effect Tuesday stateside.
The S&P 500 fell 1.76% to end the day at 5,849.72. This marks its worst day since December and brings its year-to-date performance to a loss of about 0.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 649.67 points, or 1.48%, to finish at 43,191.24. The Nasdaq Composite slid 2.64% to close at 18,350.19, weighed down by Nvidia’s decline of more than 8%.
— CNBC’s Alex Harring and Yun Li contributed to this report.