Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Wednesday, following declines on Wall Street after a sell-off in technology stocks picked up pace.

Japanese markets were in focus for investors. The Bank of Japan held interest rates steady at 0.5%, in line with expectations, as the central bank weighed the potential impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 was trading flat in its final hour, while the broader Topix index increased 0.59%.

Over in South Korea, the Kospi index advanced 0.74%, while the small-cap Kosdaq fell .99% in its last hour of trade.

Mainland China’s CSI 300 was flat, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index edged up 0.24%.

India’s benchmark Nifty 50 rose 0.21% while the broader BSE Sensex picked up 0.23%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 ended the day 0.41% lower at 7,828.30.

Gold prices hit a record high, with the precious metal trading at $3,038.06 at 1.27 p.m. Singapore time.

U.S. futures edged up, as investors await the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision.

All three benchmarks were back in the red after two straight winning sessions.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 260.32 points, or 0.62%, closing at 41,581.31. The S&P 500 shed 1.07%, ending at 5,614.66. The broad market index concluded the day 8.6% off its closing high reached in February, bringing it near correction territory. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.71% and settled at 17,504.12.

Tesla, one of the stocks hardest hit during the market’s recent correction, was down yet again on Tuesday. The stock fell more than 5% after RBC Capital Markets lowered its price target on the electric vehicle name, given stiff competition in the EV space.

Elsewhere, shares of Palantir and Nvidia dropped nearly 4% and more than 3%, respectively. The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) was also down more than 1%.

Tesla (TSLA) was under pressure again on Tuesday, closing down over 5% as a slew of competitors in China announced updates that again signaled competition on the mainland ramping up for the EV giant.

Tuesday’s loss follows a 5% drop for Tesla stock to start the week, and shares are now down over 53% from highs reached back in December.

What’s driving the news

BYD (BYDDY), China’s top automaker, announced a huge milestone with its battery technology on Tuesday, sending shares listed in Hong Kong to a new record high.

BYD said its new battery and charging system — dubbed the Super e-Platform — can charge at peak speeds of 1,000 kW, providing around 250 miles of range in just five minutes, per BYD chair and founder Wang Chuanfu.

By contrast, Tesla’s fastest superchargers max out at 250kW, or a quarter of BYD’s claimed feat.

“To completely solve users’ anxiety over charging, our pursuit is to make the charging time for EVs as short as the refueling time for fuel vehicles,” Wang added.

BYD, whose cars you still cannot buy in the US, said it will start selling EVs with the Super e-Platform next month — and plans to add 4,000 high-power charging stations in China.

Upstart EV maker Xiaomi (XIACY), best known for making smartphones, announced it would expand production capacity for its vehicles.

The maker of the SU7 sedan — which looks like a Porsche Taycan sedan crossed with a McLaren supercar— will up its production target to 350,000 EVs from its prior 300,000 target, CEO Lei Jun posted on Weibo, per Bloomberg.

The SU7, with its striking looks and tech-forward interior powered by a version of Android called HyperOS, has clearly been a hit with Chinese consumers who look to their cars as extensions of their digital devices.

Xiaomi’s phones connect seamlessly to its vehicles and give users a unified experience across the products, a level Western automakers have not been able to achieve in China.

Tuesday’s move to boost production comes as the company struggles to meet customer demand.

In December, Xiaomi announced it will expand its product offerings with the YU7 crossover SUV EV, which will have a similar footprint to Tesla’s Model Y and will officially launch midyear.

Additionally, Chinese pure-play EV maker XPeng (XPEV) announced strong financial guidance for the first quarter.

PepsiCo (PEP.O), opens new tab said on Monday it would buy prebiotic soda brand Poppi for $1.95 billion, expanding into the “healthier soda” category at a time when the company is battling falling demand for its traditional beverages and snacks.
Shares of PepsiCo were up 1.6% in early trading.

Young Americans are increasingly turning to healthier sodas and energy drinks as part of a broader shift to fitness and lifestyle products, with rival Coca-Cola (KO.N), opens new tab expanding its Simply brand to launch a prebiotic soda called “Simply Pop”.

Forever 21’s U.S. operating company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sunday, marking the second time in six years.

F21 OpCo made the move after the retailer, once known for affordable, on-trend fashions among teenagers and younger adults, was unable to find a buyer for its roughly 350 U.S. stores.

With most stores inside malls, the retailer says it was crippled by dwindling foot traffic and increased competition from online retailers.

Some of the largest e-commerce competitors to the company are Amazon, Shein and Temu.

Forever 21 was founded in Los Angeles in 1984 by South Korean immigrants. By 2016, it was operating around 800 stores globally, with 500 of those in the United States.

The clothing chain has faced issues since its first trip through bankruptcy in September 2019, during which it closed over 150 of its 534 stores and sold the rest.

F21 OpCo is currently owned by Catalyst Brands, an entity formed on Jan. 8 through the merger of Forever 21’s previous owner, Sparc Group, and JC Penney, a department store chain owned since 2020 by mall operators and Simon Property Group.

Last month, when news of the looming bankruptcy came to light, a source familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that the company was preparing to close at least 200 of its remaining 350 locations as part of the bankruptcy process.

Now, Reuters reports, F21 OpCo plans liquidation sales of its stores while it goes through a court‑supervised sale and marketing process for some or all of its assets.

Its stores and website in the United States will remain open and continue serving customers, and its international stores remain unaffected.

The company listed its estimated assets in the range of $100 million to $500 million, according to a filing with bankruptcy court in the District of Delaware obtained by Reuters, and liabilities in the range of $1 billion to $10 billion. The filing showed that it has between 10,001 and 25,000 creditors.

In the event of a successful sale, Forever 21 may pivot away from a full wind-down of operations to facilitate a going-concern transaction.

Forever 21’s trademark and other intellectual property are owned by Authentic Brands. Authentic will continue to control the brand, which could live on in some form. Authentic Brands CEO Jamie Salter said last year that acquiring Forever 21 was “the biggest mistake I made.”

“Forever 21 is one of the most recognizable names in fast fashion. It is a global brand rooted in the U.S. with a strong future ahead. Retail is changing, and like many brands, Forever 21 is adapting to create the right balance across stores, e-commerce and wholesale,” Jarrod Weber, Global President, Lifestyle at Authentic Brands Group, said in a statement to FOX Business.

“Our U.S. licensee’s decision to restructure its operations does not impact Forever 21’s intellectual property or its international business. It presents an opportunity to accelerate the modernization of the brand’s distribution model, setting it up to compete and lead in fast fashion for decades to come,” Weber added.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday the Trump administration is focused on preventing a financial crisis that could be the result of massive government spending over the past few years.

“What I could guarantee is we would have had a financial crisis. I’ve studied it, I’ve taught it, and if we had kept up at these spending levels that — everything was unsustainable,” Bessent said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “We are resetting, and we are putting things on a sustainable path.”

President Donald Trump has made getting the government’s fiscal house in order a priority since taking office. He created the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, to spearhead job cuts and early retirement incentives across multiple federal agencies.

Still, the U.S. debt and deficit problem worsened during Trump’s first month in office, as the budget shortfall for February passed the $1 trillion mark.

Bessent noted that there are “no guarantees” there won’t be a recession.

The market has been on a tumultuous ride as of late as Trump’s widespread tariffs raised concerns about inflation and economic slowdown. The S&P 500 on Thursday fell into a 10% correction from its February high as volatility spiked.

Bessent believes pullbacks like the one the market is in right now are benign, and Trump’s pro-business policies will boost the market and the economy over the long run.

“I’ve been in the investment business for 35 years, and I can tell you that corrections are healthy. They’re normal,” he said. “What’s not healthy is straight up, that you get these euphoric markets. That’s how you get a financial crisis. It would have been much healthier if someone had put the brakes on in ’06, ’07. We wouldn’t have had the problems in ’08.”

“I’m not worried about the markets. Over the long term, if we put good tax policy in place, deregulation and energy security, the markets will do great,” Bessent added. “I say that one week does not the market make.”

Egg prices dropped once again this month as bird flu outbreaks eased and demand fell, with consumers unwilling to shell out for the inflated prices, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Wholesale prices for a dozen eggs now average $4.15, down $2.70 from the week before, the USDA’s Egg Markets Overview from Friday found. In the last week of February, a dozen eggs averaged as high as $8.05.

The reason for the reduced price is two-fold: decreased demand and fewer bird flu outbreaks.

As egg prices shot up, demand for them “sharply” declined over the past week, the department found.

There were also “no significant outbreaks” of the virus in March.

This combination has led to a dip in price, but that dip has not yet been reflected on store shelves, the USDA said.

“As shell eggs are becoming more available, the sense of urgency to cover supply needs has eased and many marketers are finding prices for spot market offerings are adjusting rapidly downward in their favor,” the report said.

It’s not immediately clear if these reduced prices will stick around through Easter and Passover, during both of which eggs feature prominently. Easter is on April 20 and Passover begins on April 12 and ends on April 20.

Earlier this month, the Department of Justice said it would be investigating the surge in egg prices, including whether producers conspired to increase prices or hold back supply.

In February, egg prices skyrocketed by 59 percent year-on- year. On the campaign trail, President Donald Trump vowed to bring down the price of eggs on “day one” of his second term.

The president maintained in his speech to Congress this month: “We are working hard to get it back down.”

Amid the escalating egg prices, the Trump administration this week reportedly asked Denmark to export eggs. The timing, however, is a bit awkward, seeing as the president has repeatedly demanded the U.S. absorb Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, into the U.S. He’s even threatened economic sanctions unless Denmark hands over control of Greenland.

“They have approached us to ask how much we can deliver,” Danish Eggs sector manager Jørgen Nyberg Larsenhe told Danish trade publication AgriWatch, noting that the U.S. approached other countries too. “They have also written to my colleagues in the Netherlands, Sweden and Finland.”

It’s not just Walmart.

The leaders of companies that serve everyone from penny-pinching grocery shoppers to first-class travelers are seeing cracks in demand, a shift after resilient consumers propped up the U.S. economy for years despite prolonged inflation. On top of high interest rates and persistent inflation, CEOs are now grappling with how to handle new hurdles like on-again, off-again tariffs, mass government layoffs and worsening consumer sentiment.

Across earnings calls and investor presentations in recent weeks, retailers and other consumer-facing businesses warned that first-quarter sales were coming in softer than expected and the rest of the year might be tougher than Wall Street thought. Many of the executives blamed unseasonably cool weather and a “dynamic” macroeconomic environment, but the early days of President Donald Trump’s second term have brought new challenges — perhaps none greater than trying to plan a global business at a time when his administration shifts its trade policies by the hour.

Economists largely expect Trump’s new tariffs on goods from China, Canada and Mexico will raise prices for consumers and dampen spending at a time when inflation remains higher than the Federal Reserve’s target. In February, consumer confidence — which can help to signal how much shoppers are willing to shell out — saw the biggest drop since 2021. A separate consumer sentiment measure for March also came in worse than expected.

Another sign of weakness has been in air travel. The sector, especially large international airlines, had been a bright spot following the pandemic, with consumers proving again and again that they wouldn’t give up trips even in the face of the biggest jump inflation in more than four decades. This week, however, the CEOs of the four largest U.S. airlines — United, American, Delta and Southwest — said they are seeing a slowdown in demand this quarter. American, Delta and Southwest cut their first-quarter forecasts.

Plus, the strong U.S. job market of recent years is showing early signs of stress as job growth slows and unemployment ticks up.

These trends have thrown cold water on what was a red-hot stock market and sparked new fears about a potential recession, sending the S&P 500 tumbling 10% from its record highs in February, though it had recovered significant ground by Friday afternoon.

Now, as investors and executives grow more worried about the impact tariffs will have on consumer spending and fret about an administration they had high hopes for just a few months ago, even the strongest companies are striking cautious tones as the weaker ones get even louder.

Take Walmart, the retail industry’s de facto leader, which has spent the last year turning an uncertain economy into fuel for growth as it courted higher-income consumers. When Walmart announced fiscal fourth-quarter earnings last month, its stock fell after it warned that profit growth would be slower than expected in the year ahead. It was a rare warning sign from a company that tends to thrive in a weaker economy, and an indication that it’s expecting consumers to pull back from higher-margin discretionary goods in favor of essentials like milk and paper towels in the year ahead.

“We don’t want to get out over our skis here. There’s a lot of the year to play out,” Walmart’s finance chief, John David Rainey, told analysts when discussing the company’s outlook. “It’s prudent to have an outlook that is somewhat measured.”

Ed Bastian, chief executive of Delta Air Lines – the most profitable U.S. carrier that has reaped the rewards of big spenders in recent years – struck a similar tone after it slashed its earnings and revenue forecast for the first quarter. In an interview Monday on CNBC’s “Closing Bell,” Bastian said that consumer confidence has weakened and that both leisure and business customers have pulled back on bookings, which led it to cut its guidance.

“Consumers in a discretionary business do not like uncertainty,” said Bastian. “And while we do believe this will be a period of time that we pass through, it is also something that we need to understand and get to calmer waters.”

To be sure, it wasn’t just fewer people booking trips that led the airline to cut its first-quarter forecast. Questions about air safety compounded the problem after two major airline accidents, including Delta’s own crash landing in Toronto, in which no one died.

Beyond Delta, rival United said it will retire 21 aircraft early, a move that aims to cut costs.

“We have also seen weakness in the demand market,” United CEO Scott Kirby said at Tuesday’s JPMorgan airline industry conference. “It started with government. Government is 2% of our business. Government adjacent, all the other consultants and contracts that go along with that are probably another 2% to 3%. That’s running down about 50% right now. So a pretty material impact in the short term.”

The airline has seen some of that dynamic “bleed over” into the domestic leisure market, as well, Kirby added. He said the company is already looking at where it will cut flights, eyeing a big drop in traffic from Canada into the U.S. and in markets that were popular with government workers.

American Airlines cut its first-quarter earnings forecast and said in addition to demand pressures, bookings were hurt after a deadly midair collision of an Army helicopter with one of its regional jets in Washington, D.C., in January.

The company also felt the pullback in government travel and associated trips like those for contractors.

“We know that there’s some follow-on effect in terms of leisure travel associated with that as well,” said CEO Robert Isom.

Airline executives were upbeat about longer-term demand in 2025, however.

Other strong companies, such as Dick’s Sporting Goods, E.l.f. Beauty and Abercrombie & Fitch, also issued weak forecasts in recent weeks, though they indicated they were feeling positive about the second half of the year.

“I do think it’s just a bit of an uncertain world out there right now,” Ed Stack, chairman of Dick’s Sporting Goods, told CNBC when asked about the company’s guidance. “What’s going to happen from a tariff standpoint? You know, if tariffs are put in place and prices rise the way that they might, what’s going to happen with the consumer?”

Over the last year, companies like United, Walmart and Abercrombie have managed to outperform the S&P 500, even as shoppers reduced discretionary spending, so this change in commentary marks a major shift. It’s a warning sign that shoppers could be starting to crack, and that even excellent execution is no match for tariff-induced price increases after four years of historic inflation.

Meanwhile, the companies that have already spent the last year calling out uncertain consumer dynamics are sounding even more worried.

“Our customers continue to report that their financial situation has worsened over the last year, as they have been negatively impacted by ongoing inflation. Many of our customers report they only have enough money for basic essentials, with some noting that they have had to sacrifice even on the necessities,” the CEO of Dollar General, Todd Vasos, said on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call Thursday, adding customers are expecting value and convenience “more than ever.” The worsening consumer outlook has compounded the company’s own internal challenges.

“As we enter 2025,” Vasos continued. “We are not anticipating improvement in the macro environment, particularly for our core customer.”

Elsewhere in the retail industry, American Eagle on Tuesday warned that cold weather led to a slower-than-expected start to the first quarter, but said it wasn’t just temperatures. The apparel retailer specifically called out “less robust demand” and said it’s taking steps to reduce expenses and manage inventory as it braces for what’s still to come.

″[Consumers] have the fear of the unknown. Not just tariffs, not just inflation, we see the government cutting people off. They don’t know how that’s going to affect them. They see programs being cut, they don’t know how that’s going to affect them,” said CEO Jay Schottenstein. “And when people don’t know what they don’t know – they get very conservative … it makes everyone a little nervous.”

The “bromance” between United States President Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk was on full display on Tuesday when the White House South Lawn was transformed into a miniature Tesla showroom.

Musk lined up Tesla cars to showcase the electric car producer’s latest innovations while Trump promised to brand anyone vandalising a Tesla car a “domestic terrorist” following reports of a spate of vandalism and arson attacks on Tesla cars across the country.

Trump, known for his strong stance on domestic manufacturing and business leadership, has given Musk a prominent role in his new administration as leader of the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which claims to have uncovered “billions and billions of dollars in waste, fraud and abuse” in the US federal government – claims for which Musk and Trump have yet to show significant evidence.

Meanwhile, Tesla shares, which are listed on the NASDAQ, are floundering. On Monday this week, they plummeted by 15 percent to end the day at $215 – the worst day for the stock since 2020 and its lowest level since Trump won the presidential election in November. The shares bounced back a little after Tuesday’s presidential plug for Tesla cars to $231.83 in the morning, before levelling out at about $235 by the end of the day. On Friday, the shares were were due to open at around $240.

Tesla stock has been in freefall since its heady highs of more than $435 in mid-December, 2024. So why is the car manufacturer doing so poorly when its owner appears to be flying high at the White House?

Why is Tesla’s share price falling?

Despite performing well following the November presidential election in the US, Tesla’s stock was volatile during 2024 overall and has declined sharply since the start of this year. Robert Scott, a specialist in international economics and trade policy, said a fall in the share price was inevitable due to its “extreme overvaluation”.

“Tesla’s stock was highly overvalued, with one of the highest price-to-earnings ratios ever recorded,” Scott told Al Jazeera. This means the price of the stock was very high compared with the profits the company was generating. “This indicates that the stock price was inflated relative to market fundamentals.”

William Lee, chief economist at the Milken Institute, said the fall in the share price has come about as a result of delays to the launch of new Tesla products.

“The new refresh for the Tesla Model Y continues to be delayed, and more importantly, no new models have been introduced,” Lee said.

What has happened to sales of Tesla vehicles?

There has been a marked decrease in sales in Europe and elsewhere. According to data from Business Insider, the business trade news outlet, in February, sales were 76 percent lower in Germany than they were the previous year even though overall sales of electric vehicles were 31 percent higher. Sales in Germany also fell in January following Musk’s endorsement of the far-right AfD party. In Norway, Denmark and Sweden, sales fell 40 percent year on year in February and dropped by 26 percent in France. The company has also been suffering from organised boycott campaigns in the United Kingdom and Portugal.

Spirit Airlines is out of bankruptcy, hitting its target to emerge in the first quarter, after a crippling few years. CEO Ted Christie says the carrier is leaner and ready to take on competitors, including rival Southwest Airlines.

Earlier this week, Southwest shocked customers by announcing it will start charging for checked bags for the first time in its half-century of flying, a huge strategy move for the largest domestic U.S. carrier. (There are some exceptions to Southwest’s new bag rules, which take effect in late May.)

“I think it’s going to be painful for a little bit as they find their footing, and we’re going to take advantage of that,” Spirit’s Christie said in an interview Thursday.

Southwest had been a standout in the U.S. by offering all customers two free checked bags, a perk that has endured recessions, spikes in fuel prices and other crises while most rivals introduced bag fees and raised them every few years.

Spirit Airlines, on the other hand, made a la carte pricing common in the U.S., with fees for seat assignments, checked bags and other add-ons. It’s a strategy most large airlines, except for Southwest, have copied in one form or another.

As Southwest starts charging for bags and introduces its first basic economy class, which doesn’t include a seat assignment or allow free changes, Spirit could possibly win over customers, Christie said.

Southwest said it would get rid of its single-class open seating model last year.

“There at least was an audience of people who were intentionally selecting and flying Southwest because they felt that it was easy. They knew they were going to get two bags,” Christie said. “Now that that’s no longer the case, it’s easy to say that they’re going to widen their aperture and they’re now going to look around.”

Spirit is far smaller than Southwest and even smaller than it was last year, but it competes with the airline in cities like Kansas City, Missouri; Nashville, Tennessee; Columbus, Ohio; and Milwaukee. If customers look on travel sites like Expedia, where Southwest is a new entrant, Spirit’s tickets could be cheaper and appear higher in results, Christie said.

Other airline executives have also said they expect to win over some Southwest customers.

Delta Air Lines President Glen Hauenstein said at a JPMorgan industry conference Tuesday that there are consumers who choose Southwest based on its free bag perk “and now those customers are up for grabs.”

Spirit, for its part, has recently been offering more ticket bundles that include things like seat assignments and luggage.

The carrier is now focused on returning to profitability. It posted a net loss of over $1.2 billion last year, more than double its loss in 2023 as it grappled with grounded jets because of a Pratt & Whitney engine recall, higher costs, more domestic competition and a failed acquisition by JetBlue Airways.

Spirit has rejected multiple recent merger attempts by fellow budget carrier Frontier Airlines. Christie said Thursday that nothing is “off the table” and that a fifth-largest airline in the U.S. as a low-cost carrier makes sense, but that the airline is focused on stabilizing itself after bankruptcy.

Through its restructuring process, which started in November, Spirit said it reduced its debt by about $795 million. The transaction converted debt into equity for major creditors. The carrier also received a $350 million equity infusion.

Spirit plans to relist its shares on a stock exchange but hasn’t set a date yet.

Gold broke the $3,000 an ounce price threshold for the first time on Friday as investors sparked a rally in the safe-haven asset amid mounting economic uncertainty due to President Donald Trump’s tariff war.

Spot gold prices hit an all-time high of $3,004.86 earlier in Friday’s trading session before dipping back below the $3,000 level as traders took profits.

Gold’s surge above the historic $3,000 milestone was driven by “beleaguered investors seeking the ultimate safe-haven asset given Trump’s tumult on stock markets,” said Tai Won, an independent metals trader.

Traditionally viewed as a safe store of value during geopolitical turmoil, gold bullion has risen nearly 14% so far this year, driven in part by concerns over the impact of Trump’s tariffs and retaliation by trading partners – which have contributed to the recent stock market sell-off.

“Real asset money managers, particularly in the West, needed a strong stock market and economic slowdown scare to return to gold – and that’s happening now,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.

Gold prices have also been bolstered by demand from central banks, with China boosting its reserves for the fourth straight month in February.

“Central banks continue record-level gold acquisitions, seeking to diversify away from an increasingly volatile U.S. dollar,” said GoldCore CEO David Russell.

Expectations that the Federal Reserve will return to easing its monetary policy in the next few months have also helped gold, as traders expect interest rate cuts to resume in June, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

“There are good reasons for why investment demand is likely to remain robust… heightened geopolitical and geo-economic risk, higher inflation expectations, potentially lower rates and the uncertainty that markets are feeling,” said Juan Carlos Artigas, global head of research at the World Gold Council.