🔻 Asian markets plunge!
Japan’s 🇯🇵 Nikkei 225 crashed 3.2%, hitting its lowest since September, while KOSPI 🇰🇷 tumbled 3.1%! The selloff was triggered by Nvidia’s 🚀 sharp drop despite strong earnings, as investors worried about profit margins.
📉 Big tech losers:
SoftBank 📉 -5.3%Tokyo Electron ⚡ -5.1%Samsung 📲 -2.2%SK Hynix 💾 -4.7%
💥 Trump doubles down on tariffs!
🇺🇸 Trump confirmed 25% tariffs on 🇲🇽 Mexico & 🇨🇦 Canada starting March 4, plus 10% duties on 🇨🇳 China. With China’s National People’s Congress next week, analysts expect new stimulus moves. The tariff fears hit trade-sensitive currencies:
AUD 💵 -0.4%KRW 🇰🇷 -0.7%
📈 Hang Seng’s wild ride!
Hong Kong’s 🇭🇰 Hang Seng fell 2.6% today, but it’s still up 15% this month! 🚀 The rally was driven by AI optimism from DeepSeek, China’s rival to OpenAI 🤖. Alibaba soared 48%, while Xiaomi climbed 37% in February!
🏡 Japan’s housing slump deepens!
📉 Housing starts fell 4.6% YoY in January, marking 9 months of contraction 📉 — the fastest drop since August! Meanwhile, Tokyo inflation slowed to 2.2% YoY, but remains above BOJ’s 2% target.
🛢 Oil slides as tariffs spark demand fears!
Brent crude 🛢 -0.4% to $73.30WTI crude ⛽ -0.4% to $69.70
OPEC+ is debating an April output hike 🤔, while traders weigh Trump’s tariffs vs. supply risks from Venezuela sanctions & Iran tensions.
💵 USD firms up ahead of inflation data!
The dollar index 📈 rose 0.1%, while most Asian currencies weakened. However, the Japanese yen 🇯🇵 gained 0.2% to 149.60, supported by inflation & BOJ rate hike expectations.
₿ Bitcoin crashes below $80K!
🚨 Bitcoin plunged 5% to $79,650, hitting its lowest since November! It’s now down 25% from its $108K peak in December as crypto sentiment sours 📉.
Ether fell 6% to $2,149 amid a $1.5B Bybit hack! 🔓😱
🏭 Thailand’s factory slump slows!
🇹🇭 Manufacturing dipped 0.85% YoY in January — better than the 2.55% forecast. Despite 6 months of contraction, output jumped 8.7% MoM! The government expects a 1.5%-2.5% growth this year, boosted by:
✅ Stimulus 💰
✅ Stronger exports 🚢
✅ Tourism rebound ✈️
🌏 Morning Update (28.02.2025) 📉 was originally published in Coinmonks on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.