Global stock market collapse: Asia plummets, Europe opens in the red

The trade war triggered a sharp decline at the start of the stock market week. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange, reopening after a public holiday on Friday, led the losses with a drop exceeding 13%. The Communist government's counterattack against Donald Trump's tariffs intensified investor fears, initially spreading across Asia before spilling over to European stock exchanges and U.S. futures, setting the stage for a bleak Monday on the trading floors.

The Heng Seng Index closed down 13.22%, its worst performance since 1997 during the Asian financial crisis. Meanwhile, the Shanghai Stock Exchange in mainland China dropped 7.7%. The sell-off spread across Asia, with Tokyo’s Nikkei plunging 7.8%, and declines also seen in Seoul (-5.6%) and Sydney (-4.2%).

Widespread losses in all stocks

All sectors in Asian markets were hit, including technology, automobiles, banks, casinos, and energy companies. Among the biggest losers were major Chinese tech firms like Alibaba, which fell by over 17%, and its rival JD.com, which dropped 14%. At the same time, concerns over demand pushed oil prices down by more than 3% on Monday.

Copper, a key component for energy storage, electric vehicles, solar panels, and wind turbines, also continued to decline.

Panic in Europe

After sweeping through Asia, panic spread to Europe, where major indexes saw significant losses at the start of the session. The Euro Stoxx 50, the Eurozone's benchmark index, dropped around 6.24% in the morning. Frankfurt fell by 6.86%, briefly dipping over 10%, while Paris opened down 6.21%, London 5.83%, Madrid 3.6%, and Milan 2.32%.

Unlike Germany, these indexes saw their losses deepen throughout the morning, especially the Spanish stock market, which fell below the 12,000-point mark due to a nearly 6% drop, driven by losses in banking and Indra.