Asian stocks extend global rout after Trump's shock tariff blitz

Equities extended losses in Asia on Friday, extending a global rout inflicted by Donald Trump's tariff blitz that has inflamed a trade war and ramped up recession and inflation fears.

The US president's harsher-than-expected "Liberation Day" levies sent shockwaves through markets on Thursday, with Wall Street suffering its worst day since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic and the US dollar tanking against major peers.

As stocks were falling off a cliff on Thursday, the 78-year-old Republican insisted they will "boom" as the economy recalibrates.

Trump says he wants to make the United States free from reliance on foreign manufacturers, in a massive economic reshaping that he likened to a medical procedure.

Read More: Here