HONG KONG — Asian shares mostly extended their losses on Wednesday and gold prices hit a record high as concerns over U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats on Greenland fueled unease among investors.
U.S. futures rose after steep losses Tuesday on Wall Street. The future for the S&P 500 was up 0.3% and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%.
Gold prices crossed the $4,800 mark for the first time, gaining 1.7% as money flowed into assets considered to be safe havens at times of uncertainty.
Traders were waiting for Trump’s planned speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, attended by world leaders, elites and billionaires. Trump told reporters he planned to highlight his administration’s accomplishments during his address.
Trump’s Air Force One returned to Washington after its crew identified “a minor electrical issue” while he was on his way to Davos. He was to board another aircraft and resume his trip.
In Asian trading, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.7% to 52,603.44. Markets in Japan have been riled both by geopolitical uncertainty and by domestic issues.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has called a snap election for Feb. 8, sending yields of long-term government bonds to record levels. The assumption is that Takaichi, who is capitalizing on strong public support ratings to try to consolidate a majority for her Liberal Democratic Party, will cut taxes and boost spending, adding to the challenges Japan faces in handling its massive government debt.
The yield on the 40-year Japanese government bond was trading at 4.095% early Wednesday, down from the all-time high of 4.22% that it hit on Tuesday.
South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.5% to 4,862.17.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.2% to 26,435.20. The Shanghai Composite index edged 0.2% higher, to 4,120.10.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gave back 0.4% to 8,781.70.
Taiwan’s Taiex fell 0.9%, and India’s Sensex edged up 0.1%.
Trump has said he will impose 10% tariffs on Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland beginning in February. That would be on top of a 15% tariff specified by a trade agreement with the European Union that has yet to be ratified.
European leaders have hit back as Washington’s relations with its Western allies sour, considering countermeasures, including perhaps slow-walking ratification of the trade agreement or ordering retaliatory tariffs, analysts say.
The U.S. president had linked his position on Greenland to him not being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year, as he told Norway’s prime minister he no longer felt “an obligation to think purely of Peace.”
On Tuesday, the S&P 500 fell 2.1% to 6,796.86, the steepest drop for the benchmark index since October.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.8% to 48,488.59. The Nasdaq composite fell 2.4% to 22,954.32.
Nvidia, one of the world’s most valuable companies, fell 4.4%. Apple dropped 3.5%. Retailers, banks and industrial companies also suffered steep losses. Lowe’s fell 3.3%, JPMorgan Chase fell 3.1%, and Caterpillar lost 2.5%.
The Federal Reserve is set to meet next week for its policy meeting, and Wall Street is betting it will hold steady its benchmark interest rate. Japan’s central bank will wrap up its first monetary policy meeting on Friday.
In other dealings early Wednesday, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 56 cents to $59.80 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, shed 70 cents to $64.22 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar dropped to 158.08 Japanese yen from 158.16 yen. The euro was nearly unchanged at $1.1719.
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AP Business Writer Damian J. Troise contributed.
