The rout in US stocks has sent investors scrambling for cover as they seek out alternative markets to park their funds — but not every market is doing well.

In Asia, stocks in Hong Kong and China have rallied hard on the back of a tech-focused rally ignited by the meteoric rise of DeepSeek's R1, a cost-efficient Chinese AI model.

The euphoria in Chinese tech sent Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index and the MSCI China Index both up about 20% so far this year. European markets have also gained significantly thanks to big German and EU government and defense spending plans.

However, US President Donald Trump's trade war is causing market jitters. They're especially pronounced in export-focused Asia, where economies and company profits are vulnerable to the fallout.

Asia's sectors affected by US trade measures include Japanese auto and machinery manufacturers and South Korean makers of autos, machinery, and chips, wrote Charles Chang, the Greater China country lead for corporates at S&P Global Ratings, in a Thursday report.

"If the tariffs slow China's growth further, there will be a knock-on to mining in Australia, minerals and intermediate metals in Indonesia, and steel and chemicals across Asia-Pacific," Chang wrote.

These fears are already weighing on some markets.

Thailand's stock rout is among the worst globally

Thailand's stock market has been on a weak footing even before Trump won the election.

The Southeast Asian country's benchmark SET Index is down about 15% so far this year and has lost about a fifth of its value since an October peak. Foreign investors have pulled $4.2 billion from the market over the past 12 months, according to a Bloomberg analysis.

The erosion in investor confidence is mostly due to domestic factors including several corporate scandals, weak economic growth, poor corporate earnings, and political instability. Now, Trump's trade war is injecting even more uncertainties into the market.

Following meetings with Thai policymakers, industry experts, and investors last week, Nomura analysts wrote in a Tuesday note that "economic pessimism among the locals" is rising, with tourism the only bright spot.

Indonesia stocks tank

The Indonesian stock market was the next to come under scrutiny in recent days.