Most stock markets around the world went down on Wednesday because new US rules made it harder for companies like Nvidia to export advanced computer chips needed for artificial intelligence.

The S&P 500 futures fell by 1.2%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures also went down by 0.6%.

Shares in the chip company Nvidia fell by 6.3% after the market closed. This happened because the U.S. government put stricter rules on sending one of its chips, used for artificial intelligence, to other countries. Shares in AMD, another chip company, also dropped by 7.1% after the U.S. market closed.

Worries about a trade war started again when the Trump government said it would investigate important minerals brought into the country, like rare earths. These minerals are used in things such as smartphones, electric cars, and many other products.

In early European trading, the UK's main stock market, the FTSE 100, fell by 0.2% to 8,233.10. This happened after the government announced that inflation in the UK went down for the second month in a row in March, mainly because gas prices were lower.

In Germany, the DAX stock index dropped by 0.7% to 21,107.68 points. At the same time, the CAC 40 index in Paris also went down by 0.6%, reaching 7,289.67 points.

Stock prices in China dropped more than in other countries in the area. This happened after the Chinese government said their economy, which is the second largest in the world, grew by 5.4% in the last three months of the year. This growth was helped by good results in factories, shops, and exports. But when compared to the three months before, growth was slower, at 1.2% from January to March. This was less than the 1.6% growth at the end of 2024.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index went down by 2% to 20,922.54. In Shanghai, the Composite index went up a little by 0.1% to 3,271.19.

Economists in private companies have lowered their predictions because President Donald Trump recently increased taxes on most goods from China to 145%, and China also increased its taxes on goods from the U.S. to 125%.

Experts at ANZ Research said that business activity in this quarter is already becoming weaker.

Raymond Yeung and other researchers from ANZ wrote in a report that they believed the problems with tariffs came from not knowing what would happen, more than from the tariffs themselves. They added that President Trump's announcements had changed how businesses felt and what they did.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index went down by 1% to 33,920.40. This was mainly because the share prices of big technology companies like Advantest and Disco Corp. fell a lot.

In South Korea, the Kospi index dropped by 1.2% to 2,447.43. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 also went down a little, by less than 0.1%, to 7,758.90.

India's Sensex index stayed mostly the same, and Bangkok's SET index went down slightly by 0.1%.

On Tuesday, American stocks didn't change much. The S&P 500 index went down a little, by 0.2%, and the Dow index fell by 0.4%. The Nasdaq composite index also went down, but only by a tiny amount, less than 0.1%.

Because of the uncertainty about President Trump's tariffs, investors waited to see what would happen.

The U.S. bond market seemed calmer after its sudden and big changes last week. These changes made people less confident that U.S. government bonds are a safe investment when there are risks.

The interest rate on the 10-year government bond stayed at 4.33%. This was lower than 4.38% on Monday evening and 4.48% at the end of last week. A week earlier, it was only 4.01%. Interest rates often fall when investors are nervous, so the changes this week have helped people feel more secure.

The value of the U.S. dollar also became stable after falling last week. This made people more worried that Trump's trade disagreements could also be weakening its role as a safe investment.

Palantir Technologies' stock increased by 6.2% for the second day in a row. This happened after NATO announced they would use the company's AI technology in their operations.

Early on Wednesday, the price of U.S. oil went down by 69 cents to $60.64 a barrel, and international oil (Brent crude) dropped by 65 cents to $64.01 a barrel.

Because of Trump's tariffs, people now expect economies to grow more slowly, which means less demand for oil and other resources.

The U.S. dollar went down against the Japanese yen, from 143.24 to 142.26 yen. At the same time, the euro went up against the dollar, from $1.1283 to $1.1377.