(March 27): South Korean equities slipped on Thursday as US President Donald Trump's new auto tariffs weighed on automakers in the East Asian nation, while Chinese stocks rose led by carmakers with limited exposure to the US markets.

South Korean stocks declined 1.4%, dragged lower by Hyundai Motor and sister automaker Kia Corp. Taiwan's benchmark hit a near two-week low, with top contract chipmaker TSMC down more than 2%.

"Korea is the Emerging Asian economy that stands out in terms of its economic exposure to auto tariffs," analysts at Barclays said in a note.

An MSCI gauge of Asian emerging market equities, in which Taiwan and South Korea hold roughly 35% weight, skidded to a more than one-week low. It fell 0.8% in the early hours but recovered, helped by Chinese stocks.

China's blue-chip CSI300 index and the Shanghai Composite index gained on the back of auto shares with limited US exposure. China accounts for more than 38% of the MSCI Asian EM equities index.

Late on Wednesday, Trump announced plans for long-promised 25% tariffs on automotive imports that are set to go into effect on April 3, escalating a global trade war that risks fuelling inflation.

Assets in Southeast Asia did not react to the levies owing to their minimal exposure to the US auto market. But the Mexican peso weakened 0.5% in Asian hours, while the Canadian dollar was largely flat, though it dipped 0.3% earlier.

Mexico and Canada are among the top automotive products suppliers to the US.

Markets in Southeast Asia, heavily exposed to global trade, are wary of the reciprocal US tariffs, due to be announced next week.

"Compared to Trump 1.0, the Asean-6 countries face higher direct and indirect risks from tariffs under the current administration," DBS analysts wrote, referring to a group of countries that includes Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand.

Malaysia's benchmark index jumped 0.8%, led by top banks. Singapore stocks scaled a fresh all-time high briefly but stopped short of breaching the psychologically key level of 4,000 points.

In Indonesia, stocks were adrift after a near 4% surge the previous day. The rupiah ticked lower to 16,550 per US dollar but was anchored around the 1998 Asian Financial Crisis low it plunged to earlier in the week.

Concerns about the country's fiscal stability and growth prospects lingered as markets head into the extended holiday break until April 7.

Uploaded by Magessan Varatharaja