Nikkei drops 5% after Wall Street hit by tariff fears

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell sharply in early trading Friday, dropping 5.0% amid renewed investor concerns over U.S. tariffs that rattled Wall Street overnight.

The decline followed a dramatic 9.1 percent surge on Thursday, when markets rallied after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on many planned tariffs. However, persistent uncertainty over trade policy and global economic stability continued to weigh heavily on investor sentiment.