The view of Nanjing Road East Pedestrian Mall, the main shopping street in Shanghai.
Bruce Yuanyue Bi | The Image Bank | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets mostly rose Tuesday after all three key Wall Street benchmarks advanced overnight on a tech rally.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 increased 0.87% while the broader Topix index advanced 1.08%.
In South Korea, the Kospi index added 0.86% while the small-cap Kosdaq moved up 0.21%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was flat while Mainland China’s CSI 300 fell 0.43% in choppy trade.
Meanwhile, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 moved up 0.53%.
India is expected to release its inflation figures for March later in the day. Economists polled by Reuters’ expect the country’s consumer price index reading to come in at 3.60%, compared to 3.61% in the month before.
A separate poll indicates that India’s wholesale price index is forecast to come in at 2.5% in March, from 2.38% in February.
U.S. futures slipped as investors awaited first-quarter earnings reports and weighed U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff plans.
Notices by the U.S. Commerce Department indicated that it would be investigating the impact of “imports of semiconductors and semiconductor manufacturing equipment” as well as “pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical ingredients, including finished drug products,” on national security in the U.S.
Overnight stateside, stocks rose in a choppy session, thanks to a rally in tech names spurred by a surprise tariff exemption from Trump.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 312.08 points, or 0.78%, to close at 40,524.79. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.64% to end at 16,831.48, while the S&P 500 added 0.79% and settled at 5,405.97.
— CNBC’s Lisa Kailan Han, Alex Harring and Sean Conlon contributed to this report.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Tech falls over 1% after five straight sessions of gains
Hang Seng Tech ETF
Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index edged up 0.06% in choppy trade.
— Amala Balakrishner
Tencent-backed China Ruyi Holdings’ shares plunge over 11% on $302 million bond issuance
Shares of Tencent-backed China Ruyi Holdings plunged as much as 11.26% Tuesday, following its announcement of a 2.34 billion Hong Kong dollars ($301.74 million) convertible bond issuance.
Shares of China Ruyi Holdings
The Chinese streaming platform will use the funds raised for its growth and expansion efforts such as in content production and the purchase of drama scripts, it reported in a regulatory filing.
Tencent holds a 16.4% stake in China Ruyi, making it the company’s second largest shareholder.
— Amala Balakrishner
Japanese and South Korean auto stocks rise in early trade
Japanese and South Korean auto stocks rose in early trade Tuesday, after U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments on “help[ing] some of the car companies.”
“I’m looking for something to help some of the car companies, where they’re switching to parts that were made in Canada, Mexico and other places, and they need a little bit of time because they’re going to make them here,” Trump said in a meeting with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele in the Oval Office Monday.
While he did not elaborate on his upcoming plans, Trump noted that the companies “need a little bit of time.”
Suzuki Motor led gains in Japanese automakers, surging 5.28% as at 9.21 a.m. local time.
Other stocks that logged steep increases include Mazda Motor which advanced 5.08%, Honda Motor, which picked up 5.05%, Toyota Motor which rose 4.83%.
Over in South Korea, Kia Corp added 2.89% while Hyundai Motor moved up 2.57%.
— Amala Balakrishner
Fed’s Waller sees tariff inflation impact as ‘transitory’
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller speaks during The Clearing House Annual Conference in New York City on Nov. 12, 2024.
Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said Monday that inflation from Trump’s tariffs likely will be “transitory,” and indicated that interest rate reductions are still on the table.
In a speech delivered in St. Louis, the central bank official broke down tariffs into two scenarios, one in which they are higher and longer lasting and the other whether they are negotiated lower. In either case, Waller said rate cuts are likely to boost growth under the higher-tariff scenario or as “good news” reductions under the reduced level.
“I can hear the howls already that this must be a mistake given what happened in 2021 and 2022. But just because it didn’t work out once does not mean you should never think that way again,” Waller said of the “transitory” call.
— Jeff Cox
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