Stocks Decline After Nvidia Earnings Disappoint: Markets Wrap

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

Equity gauges in China and technology stocks in Hong Kong declined while 10-year Treasury yields inched higher. European equity index 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 and sowing confusion 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.

 

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.”

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Treasuries slipped. They had rallied on Wednesday, sending the US 10-year yield to its lowest level since the middle of December. A gauge of the dollar rose for a second day. Australian yields fell.

World’s top commodity traders are rushing to ship copper to the US from as far afield as Asia as Trump’s threat of import tariffs on the metal creates a huge opportunity for profit.

Bitcoin advanced to $85,000 after falling below $84,000 overnight. Oil steadied near the lowest close this year, while gold fell.

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. 

In corporate news, Nissan Motor Co.’s bonds and shares reacted positively to a potential change in leadership. Toyota Motor Corp.’s year is off to a slow but promising start after stagnant sales abroad were offset by a rebound in Japan.

Hong Kong’s stock exchange reported its highest quarterly profit in nearly four years after China’s stimulus measures boosted trading and listing volume.

Nvidia’s Warning

Nvidia also warned that gross profit margins would be tighter than anticipated as it rushes to roll out a new chip design called Blackwell. And there’s the risk of US tariffs weighing on results. 

The mixed outlook comes at a shaky time for the AI industry. Nvidia shares have dipped this year on concerns that data center operators will slow spending. Chinese startup DeepSeek also has sparked fears that chatbots can be developed on the cheap, potentially reducing the need for Nvidia’s powerful chips for AI.

“Before the launch of DeepSeek, the expectation was that China’s AI was sort of well behind US AI,” said Edward Chan, senior investment analyst at Mirae Asset Global Investments. “The key implication is that China software companies, internet companies, all these tech companies now have access to a very competitive model where they could start build out their tech stack and build out all kinds of applications. So I think that’s really a big change for the whole China tech industry.” 

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 1:32 p.m. Tokyo time
• Nikkei 225 futures (OSE) fell 0.4%
• Japan’s Topix rose 0.3%
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.2%
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.1%
• The Shanghai Composite fell 0.4%
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 0.7%
• Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.1%

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%
• The euro fell 0.2% to $1.0465
• The Japanese yen was little changed at 149.21 per dollar
• The offshore yuan fell 0.2% to 7.2741 per dollar
• The Australian dollar fell 0.3% to $0.6289

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin rose 0.4% to $84,767.09
• Ether fell 1.1% to $2,315.67

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced two basis points to 4.27%
• Australia’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 4.34%

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.1% to $68.70 a barrel
• Spot gold fell 0.5% to $2,902.51 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Richard Henderson and Winnie Hsu.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.