By JUNZHE JIANG, Associated Press

HONG KONG (AP) — Global shares slumped on Monday, with benchmarks in Tokyo and Taiwan falling more than 4%, while the price of gold hit a record high, trading at $3,154 an ounce.

Investors have pulled back and sought traditional safe havens like gold as worries build over a potentially toxic mix of worsening inflation and a slowing U.S. economy because households are afraid to spend due to the deepening trade war that has escalated under U.S. President Donald Trump.

The future for the S&P 500 sank 1%, while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.7%.

European markets opened lower. Britain’s FTSE 100 slid 1% to 8,576.54, and France’s CAC 40 declined 1.1% to 7,829.09.

Germany’s DAX fell 1.1% to 22,222.99.

Thailand’s SET lost 1.3% after a powerful earthquake centered in Myanmar rattled the region, causing widespread destruction in the country, also known as Burma, and less damage in places like Bangkok.

Shares in Italian Thai Development, developer of a partially built 30-story high-rise office building under construction that collapsed, tumbled 27%. Thai officials said they are investigating the cause of the disaster, which left dozens of construction workers missing.

Stock markets worldwide appear shaky as a Wednesday deadline approaches for more tariffs. Trump has dubbed it “Liberation Day,” when he will roll out tariffs tailored to each of the United States’ trading partners.

Many of the countries that run trade surpluses with the U.S. and depend heavily on export manufacturing are in Asia, Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

“Asia is ground zero. Of the 21 countries under USTR (U.S. Trade Representative) scrutiny, nine are in Asia,” he noted.

Tokyo’s benchmark fell 4.1% to 35,617.56, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 1.3% to 23,119.58.

The Shanghai Composite index declined 0.5% to 3,335.75.

In South Korea, the Kospi fell 3% to 2,481.12, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 sank 1.7%, closing at 7,843.40.

Taiwan’s Taiex lost 4.2%.

On Friday, the S&P 500 dropped 2% to 5,580.94, for one of its worst days in the last two years. It was its fifth losing week in the last six.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 715 points, or 1.7%, to 41,583.90, and the Nasdaq composite fell 2.7% to 17,322.99.

Lululemon Athletica led the market lower with a drop of 14.2%, even though the seller of athletic apparel reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

Oxford Industries, the company behind the Tommy Bahama and Lilly Pulitzer brands, likewise reported stronger results for the latest quarter than expected but still saw its stock fall 5.7%.

One of the main worries hitting Wall Street is that President Donald Trump’s escalating tariffs may cause U.S. households and businesses to freeze their spending. Even if the tariffs end up being less painful than feared, all the uncertainty may filter into changed behaviors that hurt the economy.

A report Friday showed all types of U.S. consumers are growing more pessimistic about their future finances. Two out of three expect unemployment to worsen in the year ahead, according to a survey by the University of Michigan. That’s the highest reading since 2009, and it raises worries about a job market that’s been a linchpin keeping the U.S. economy solid.

A separate report also raised concerns after it showed a widely followed, underlying measure of inflation was a touch worse last month than economists expected.

The Fed could return to cutting interest rates, like it was doing late last year, in order to give the economy and financial markets a boost. But such cuts would also push upward on inflation, which has been sticking above the Fed’s 2% target.

The economy and job market have been holding up so far, but if they were to weaken while inflation stays high, it would produce a worst-case scenario called “stagflation.” Policy makers in Washington have few good tools to fix it.

In other dealings early Monday, U.S. benchmark crude oil added 44 cents to $69.80 per barrel. Brent crude oil gained 46 cents to $73.22 per barrel.

The U.S. dollar fell to 149.13 Japanese yen from 149.84 yen. The euro was unchanged at $1.0830.

By DAVID RISING, Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — The death toll from the earthquake that hit Myanmar has risen to more than 1,700 as more bodies have been pulled from the rubble, the country’s military-led government said Monday.

Government spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun told state-run MRTV that another 3,400 have been injured and more than 300 were missing. The military had previously reported 1,644 dead but did not provide specific figures in its update.

The 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit at midday Friday, causing widespread damage, including in the capital Naypitaw and the second largest city, Mandalay.

It was the time of Friday prayers for the country’s Muslim minority during the holy month of Ramadan, and some 700 worshippers were killed when mosques collapsed, said Tun Kyi, a member of the steering committee of the Spring Revolution Myanmar Muslim Network. It was not clear whether they were already included in the official count of casualties.

Tun Kyi said some 60 mosques were damaged or destroyed when the earthquake struck, and videos posted on The Irrawaddy online news site showed several mosques toppling during the quake, and people fleeing from the areas.

In Mandalay, 270 monks were taking a religious exam at the U Hla Thein monastery when the quake hit, crumpling the building.

Rescue workers at the scene Monday said 70 were able to escape, but 50 have already been found dead and 150 are still unaccounted for.

Little is known about the damage in many places

The true number of people killed and injured across the regions hit is thought to be possibly many times the official figures, but with telecommunication outages and extreme challenges to movement around the country, little is known about the damage in many areas.

“We’re really not clear on the scale of the destruction at this stage,” Lauren Ellery, deputy director of programs in Myanmar for the International Rescue Committee, told The Associated Press.

There is a state of emergency in six regions, and Ellery said her teams on the ground and their local partners are currently assessing where needs are the greatest, while providing emergency medical care, humanitarian supplies and other assistance.

“They were talking about a town near Mandalay where 80% of the buildings were reportedly collapsed, but it wasn’t in the news because telecommunications have been slow,” she said.

“Even in areas where there isn’t so much impact, our partner reported to us on Saturday that there were landslides stopping them reaching one of the villages.”

The earthquake, centered near Mandalay — a city of some 1.5 million, brought down buildings and damaged other infrastructure like the city’s airport.

An artificial intelligence analysis of satellite images of Mandalay by Microsoft’s AI for Good Lab showed 515 buildings with 80%-100% damage and another 1,524 with between 20% and 80% damage. Another 180,004 buildings had between 0% and 20% damage, and the AI4G Lab noted that the assessment was a “preliminary guide and will require on-the-ground verification.”

The World Health Organization said it has reports of three hospitals destroyed and 22 partially damaged in the region.

“The scale of deaths and injuries is not yet fully understood and the numbers are expected to increase,” the U.N. agency said in a report.

“The earthquake’s devastation has overwhelmed healthcare facilities in the affected areas, which are struggling to manage the influx of injured individuals. There is an urgent need for trauma and surgical care, blood transfusion supplies, anesthetics, essential medicines, and mental health support.”

A lack of heavy machinery has slowed search and rescue operations, forcing many to slowly search for survivors by hand in the relentless heat, with daily temperatures above 104 Fahrenheit.

Myanmar’s neighbors and allies are among those lending aid

International rescue teams from several countries are now on the scene, including from Russia, China, India and several Southeast Asian countries.

On Sunday, an Indian team jackhammered through slabs of fallen concrete at one site in Mandalay, cutting rebar reinforcement with an angle grinder powered by a portable generator as they sought to reach lower levels.

They could be seen bringing out one covered body and loading it into an ambulance.

The European Union, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and others have announced millions of dollars in aid, either directly or through local partners and international organizations.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said Washington would help, but so far there has been no known assistance to Myanmar.

A small number of American military personnel were sent to assist in Bangkok, where the earthquake shook the Thai capital and killed at least 18 people, many at a construction site where a partially built high-rise collapsed.

Another 33 have been reported injured and 78 missing, primarily at the construction site near the popular Chatuchak market.

Heavy equipment was shut down and authorities urged onlookers to be silent as they used machines to try and detect any signs of life from under the rubble.

Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt told reporters at the scene that signs had been detected Sunday night, though experts could not determine whether it had been machine error.

Nonetheless, he said he still had hope survivors would be found.

“Even if one life is saved, it is worth all the effort,” he said.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, sits on the Sagaing Fault, a major north-south fault that separates the India plate and the Sunda plate.

The earthquake occurred when a 125-mile section of the fault ruptured, causing widespread damage along a wide swath of territory down the middle of the country, including Sagaing, Mandalay, Magway and Bago regions and Shan State.

Beyond the earthquake damage, rescue efforts are complicated by the bloody civil war roiling much of the country, including in quake-affected areas. In 2021, the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking what has since turned into significant armed resistance.

Government forces have lost control of much of Myanmar, and many places are dangerous or impossible for aid groups to reach. More than 3 million people have been displaced by the fighting and nearly 20 million are in need, according to the United Nations.

Ellery, of the International Rescue Committee, noted that the area worst hit by the earthquake was already seriously damaged by flooding last year in which many lost homes, and is also where many of the country’s internally displaced people have sought refuge.

Since the earthquake, many people have been sleeping outside, either because their homes have been destroyed or they are worried that the continuing aftershocks might bring them down.

With the monsoon rains starting in May, finding people shelter was going to be a major challenge going ahead, she said.

“But right now we’re focused on the immediate response,” she said.

Associated Press journalists Jerry Harmer and Jintamas Saksornchai in Bangkok, and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.

Today is Monday, March 31, the 90th day of 2025. There are 275 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On March 31, 1993, actor Brandon Lee, 28, was accidentally shot to death during the filming of a movie in Wilmington, North Carolina, when he was hit by a bullet fragment that had become lodged inside a prop gun.

Also on this date:

In 1492, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain issued the Alhambra Decree, an edict expelling Jews from Spanish soil, except those willing to convert to Christianity.

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In 1854, Japan and the United States signed the Treaty of Kanagawa, which opened two Japanese ports to American vessels and marked the beginning of Japan’s transition away from isolationism.

In 1918, the United States first observed daylight saving time, moving clocks ahead one hour.

In 1931, Notre Dame college football coach Knute Rockne, 43, was killed in the crash of a TWA plane near Bazaar, Kansas.

In 1968, at the conclusion of a nationally broadcast address on Vietnam, President Lyndon B. Johnson stunned listeners by declaring, “I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your president.”

In 1995, Tejano music star Selena, 23, died after being shot by Yolanda Saldívar, the president of Selena’s fan club, who was found to have been embezzling money from the singer.

In 2004, four U.S. civilian contractors were killed by Iraqi insurgents in Fallujah, Iraq; frenzied crowds then dragged the burned, mutilated bodies and hanged two of them from a bridge.

In 2005, Terri Schiavo (SHY’-voh), 41, died at a hospice in Pinellas Park, Florida, 13 days after her feeding tube was removed in a wrenching right-to-die court battle that began in 1998.

In 2022, scientists announced they had finished fully sequencing the human genome, the full genetic blueprint for human life.

Today’s Birthdays:

Actor William Daniels is 98.
Actor Richard Chamberlain is 91.
Actor Shirley Jones is 91.
Musician-producer Herb Alpert is 90.
Actor Christopher Walken is 82.
Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, is 81.
Former Vice President Al Gore is 77.
Actor Rhea Perlman is 77.
Rock musician Angus Young (AC/DC) is 70.
Hockey Hall of Famer Pavel Bure is 54.
Actor Ewan McGregor is 54.
Actor Brian Tyree Henry is 43.
Filmmaker Chloé Zhao is 43.
Musician-producer Jack Antonoff is 41.

The Pistons showed up to Target Center on Sunday ready to literally fight. But, for the first quarter, the Timberwolves looked more ready to go to bed. Until Donte DiVincenzo decided to step into the ring.

Shortly after Isaiah Stewart got a technical foul for a push early in the second frame, Detroit rookie Ron Holland delivered a little shove to DiVincenzo after a foul was called against Holland.

DiVincenzo would have no more of that. He grabbed Holland and wrestled him into the first row of seats located under the basket. And it was on.

A bevy of players got into the outskirts of the skirmish, which didn’t feature any thrown punches, but ample pushing in a skirmish that leaked into the spectators. In the end, five players were ejected —DiVincenzo and Naz Reid for Minnesota and Holland, Stewart and Marcus Sasser for the Pistons. Detroit head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and Minnesota assistant Pablo Prigioni, who were jawing at one another in the wake of the incident, were also sent to the locker room.

The lingering question for Minnesota is whether anyone, specifically, DiVincenzo, will face a suspension from the NBA. The Wolves play in Denver on Tuesday.

But what mattered most for Minnesota on Sunday was that the Wolves woke up in time to rally from a 16-point deficit to down Detroit 123-104.

With the win, Minnesota leapfrogged the Clippers to move into the No. 7 spot in the Western Conference and remained on Golden State’s heels for the six seed.

Minnesota trailed at the time of the skirmish, and went down by 14 with fewer than five minutes to play in the half. But after the ejections a Detroit team that entered the night sans Tobias Harris and Cade Cunningham was then down five guys, and the Wolves won the war of attrition.

Anthony Edwards scored 20 points in the third quarter. Rudy Gobert dominated the affair with 19 points and a whopping 25 rebounds.

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