Asian equities fluctuated Thursday as investors parsed the latest tariff announcements from US President Donald Trump and earnings from Nvidia Corp. failed to impress market participants.

A gauge of the region’s equities traded in a tight range while 10-Year Treasury yields inched up after bonds gained overnight. European futures declined as much as 0.9% after Trump said that his administration would impose tariffs of 25% on the European Union. The president also said that previously announced levies on Mexico and Canada would come into force on April 2. 

Trump’s comments were at times contradictory, sowing confusion among investors as the tariffs on US neighbors were to take effect from next month. Nvidia shares fell in after-hours trading as the chipmaker delivered good-but-not-great quarterly numbers, leaving investors — who have become accustomed to blowout results — disappointed.

“With Nvidia lacking the spark that it usually brings, probably US stocks will continue to lack a near-term driver and the rotation trade to China/Europe could find more runway,” said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo Markets. The results are “still not enough to address and calm” the concerns around geopolitics, tariffs and the shifting landscape in AI trade, she said.

The barrage of tariff news ricocheted through currency markets, lifting the dollar and stemming a selloff in the Canadian dollar and Mexican peso Wednesday, and extending the uncertainty that has weakened equities and cryptocurrencies through the week.

New research suggests Trump’s latest tariffs on imports from China may hit the American economy more than official US trade data indicate.

“The somewhat contradictory statements from the administration around the timing and extent of tariffs is keeping investors off sides,” said Marvin Loh at State Street. “The debate continues as to whether the president will again delay and water down his plans, or if this is the start of the aggressive rhetoric.”

Bitcoin fell to around $84,000, more than a fifth lower than its peak last month, as outflows from exchanged-traded funds amplified selling. Oil fell, while gold was little changed.

In Asia, the yen traded around 149 per dollar after ending Wednesday’s session little changed. Japan’s top currency official on Wednesday indicated he had no issue with growing market expectations over Bank of Japan interest-rate hikes, which this week helped send the yen to a four-month high.

Elsewhere, Australia will release private capital expenditure data while Macau will publish hotel occupancy figures. The G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors will meet in Cape Town. In Europe, Eurozone consumer confidence figures will be released later Thursday, as will US gross domestic product and initial jobless claims.

Nvidia Results

A $330 billion exchange-traded fund tracking the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) initially rose after the close of regular trading on speculation that Nvidia’s earnings will help reignite the artificial intelligence-driven rally. The giant chipmaker that’s seen as a barometer for AI gave a bullish revenue forecast for the current quarter.

The company got $11 billion of revenue from Blackwell in the fourth quarter, something Nvidia described as the “fastest product ramp” in its history. The outlook comes at a shaky time for the AI industry, with investors concerned about whether data center operators will slow spending.

“Nvidia has swept aside concerns about production of its Blackwell chips, and threats to the boom in demand for computing power with top and bottom line beats for the fourth quarter, and guidance for the current quarter ahead of expectations,” said Derren Nathan at Hargreaves Lansdown.

Key events this week:

  • Eurozone consumer confidence, Thursday

  • US GDP, durable goods, initial jobless claims, Thursday

  • Fed’s Jeff Schmid, Beth Hammack, Patrick Harker, Michael Barr, Michelle Bowman speak, Thursday

  • Japan Tokyo CPI, industrial production, retail sales, Friday

  • US PCE inflation, income and spending, Friday

  • Fed’s Austan Goolsbee speaks, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

  • S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 9:08 a.m. Tokyo time

  • Hang Seng futures fell 0.5%

  • Japan’s Topix rose 0.1%

  • Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.6%

  • Euro Stoxx 50 futures rose 1.5%

Currencies

  • The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed

  • The euro was little changed at $1.0482

  • The Japanese yen was little changed at 149.03 per dollar

  • The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.2657 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies

  • Bitcoin fell 0.3% to $84,227.48

  • Ether fell 0.2% to $2,335.53

Bonds

  • The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced one basis point to 4.27%

  • Japan’s 10-year yield declined 1.5 basis points to 1.365%

  • Australia’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 4.34%

Commodities

  • West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.3% to $68.82 a barrel

  • Spot gold was little changed

. Read more on Markets by NDTV Profit.European futures declined as much as 0.9% after Trump said that his administration would impose tariffs of 25% on the European Union.  Read MoreMarkets, Business, Bloomberg 

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