Slight rise in Taiwan but Asian shares were mostly falling Wednesday ahead of Trump announcement

(2 Apr 2025) FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4566025 RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ASSOCIATED PRESS Taipei - 2 April 2025 1. Various stock index showing on tickers 2. Various index numbers on monitors 3. Close of monitor screen shows main index going up 16.76 points or 0.08% to 21296.93 points ASSOCIATED PRESS Hong Kong - 2 April 2025 4. Wide of exterior of Hong Kong Exchange building 5. Various electronic ticker-tape showing benchmark Hang Seng Index down ASSOCIATED PRESS Tokyo - 2 April 2025 6. Tokyo stock exchange opens 7. Nikkei 225 dropping 8. Mid of Nikkei 225 ASSOCIATED PRESS Seoul, South Korea - 2 April 2025 9. Various of KOSPI displayed on electronic screens inside Hana Bank dealing room STORYLINE: Taiwan's stock market opened on a slight increase before a U.S. tariffs announcement later on Wednesday. President Donald Trump is set to announce a barrage of self-described “reciprocal” tariffs on friend and foe alike. The new tariffs — coming on what Trump has called “Liberation Day” — is a bid to boost U.S. manufacturing and punish other countries for what he has said are years of unfair trade practices. But by most economists’ assessments, the risky move threatens to plunge the economy into a downturn and mangle decades-old alliances. The White House is exuding confidence despite the political and financial gamble being undertaken. Asian shares were mostly falling Wednesday, shaken by jitters over what Trump will announce. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 recouped early losses and was down less than 0.1%, at 35,618.04 in morning trading. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.2% to 7,940.30. South Korea’s Kospi dipped 0.4% to 2,511.66. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.9% to 23,003.26, while the Shanghai Composite inched down less than 0.1% to 3,346.84. Veteran Hong Kong stock analyst Francis Lun is not optimistic about the Asian stock markets’ performance on Thursday if U.S. announces tariffs Wednesday overnight. South Korea's market opened lower than previous day's close due to looming U.S. tariffs, set to launch on April 2. On Wednesday past 10 a.m. local time, South Korea's benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), was at 2509.65, which was 0.47% lower than Tuesday's close. =========================================================== Clients are reminded to adhere to all listed restrictions and to check the terms of their licence agreements. For further assistance, please contact the AP Archive on: Tel +44(0)2074827482 Email: [email protected]. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...