Asian Stocks Wobble As US Inflation Fails To Ease Trade Worries

Asian investors struggled on Thursday to build on much-needed gains on Wall Street as a below-forecast read on US inflation was offset by ongoing concerns about President Donald Trump’s trade war.

With governments around the world trying to figure out how to respond to the US president’s tariff agenda and threats of further measures, equity markets have been plunged into turmoil amid uncertainty about what is to come.

While attention has been mostly on the trade saga in recent weeks, Wednesday provided a little relief as data showed US consumer inflation slowed slightly more than expected in February, the first full month of Trump’s second term.

However, National Australia Bank’s Tapas Strickland said it was “worth noting the data was for February and thus largely predates any potential tariff impacts.”.

There has been a growing concern among investors that Trump’s tariffs and pledges to slash taxes, regulations, and immigration would reignite inflation, force the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates again, and cause a recession.