The drop in Hong Kong's Hang Seng was also eye-catching, with both benchmarks essentially giving up all of the sizeable gains of the day before.
When the little-known United States Court of International Trade on Wednesday unexpectedly blocked the bulk of Trump's aggressive levies, on the grounds that he had overstepped his authority, there was some inkling that the judiciary could provide a check on his often erratic policy-making.
But a day later those tariffs were back, reinstated by an appeals court while it considers the case. That is by no means a foreshadowing of its eventual ruling, but Trump's team is already saying it has other avenues to keep the tariffs in effect.
For businesses, consumers and central banks, it's just one more reason to sit on their hands, pushing out already delayed decisions on hiring, spending or cutting rates.
For U.S. trade partners, though, the Trump administration assures us that good-faith negotiations continue undeterred. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pointed specifically to high-level talks he will have with a Japanese delegation in Washington later today.
Despite Trump's optimism, deals have been hard to come by - a broad agreement with Britain is the only one so far. And Bessent acknowledged talks with China are "a bit stalled", adding they may require the direct involvement of Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
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