Asian markets mixed after US’ apex court nixes Trump’s tariffs

US futures dropped, and Asian shares were mostly higher on Monday after the Supreme Court struck down most of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs. Bitcoin tumbled as much as 5 per cent early Monday, dropping below $65,000.

The sell-off has been driven by investors pulling out of speculative assets and concerns about future cryptocurrency regulation. The original cryptocurrency, pitched as “digital gold”, has lost nearly half of its value since Oct 6, when it hit a record high of $126,210.50,

Markets in Japan and mainland China were closed for holidays. Hong Kong led regional gains as its Hang Seng index surged 2.2 per cent to 26,980.22. In South Korea, the Kospi gave back early gains, edging 0.1 per cent lower to 5,809.53. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.6 per cent to 9,024.40. Taiwan’s Taiex added 0.5 per cent and the Sensex in India was up 0.4 per cent.

The SET in Bangkok jumped 1.1 per cent. The mixed reactions are “highlighting the winners-and-losers effect of shifts in tariff policy that has just delivered a boost to countries who previously had a comparatively bad deal,” Benjamin Picton of Rabobank said in a commentary.

“US tariff policy will continue to be a source of uncertainty for markets as traders attempt to price in the implications of what is still a movable feast,” he wrote.

The future for the S&P 500 lost 0.8 per cent and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.7 per cent. The future for the Nasdaq composite index was down 1 per cent.

On Friday, Wall Street kept calm after the Supreme Court’s ruling against Trump’s sweeping tariffs, which triggered panic in financial markets when they were announced last year.

The S&P 500 rose 0.7 per cent to 6,909.51. It had been flipping between small gains and losses before the court’s ruling, following discouraging reports showing slowing growth for the US economy and faster inflation.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.5 per cent to 49,625.97. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.9 per cent to 22,886.07. Tariffs aren’t going away, even with the Supreme Court’s ruling.

Trump said Friday he would use other avenues to put taxes on imports from other countries after calling the court’s decision terrible. Trump said he would sign an executive order to impose a 10 per cent global tariff under a law that could limit it to 150 days. He later raised that to 15 per cent. He said he’s exploring other tariffs through other avenues, ones that would require Commerce Department investigations. The reaction has been tentative given persisting uncertainties over what he will do. On Wall Street, Akamai Technologies dropped 14.1 per cent for one of the market’s sharpest losses. The cybersecurity and cloud computing company reported stronger results for the end of 2025 than analysts expected, but it gave a profit forecast for the upcoming year that fell short of estimates. Akamai plans to spend a bigger percentage of its revenue this upcoming year on equipment and other investments. It’s the latest potential indicator of how shortages of computer memory created by the AI boom are affecting customers throughout the economy. Discouraging reports showing slowing US economic growth and accelerating inflation drew a relatively muted response.

The reports highlight the Federal Reserve’s dilemma over interest rates but did not change traders’ expectations much for what the Fed will ultimately do. Traders are still betting that the Fed will lower rates at least twice this year, according to data from CME Group.