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 climbed Wednesday, after all three key benchmarks on Wall Street advanced overnight on optimism that U.S.-China trade tensions could ease.
This comes after U.S. President Donald Trump indicated that final tariffs on Chinese exports to the U.S. "won’t be anywhere near as high as 145%." However, he added that the duties "won’t be 0%."
Trump also said he has "no intention" to fire Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell before his term ends, alleviating investors' concerns over the central bank's independence.
Hong Kong stocks led gains in the region. The Hang Seng Index soared 2.37% to end the day at 22,072.62, while the Hang Seng Tech Index surged 3.07% to 5,049.40. Meanwhile, Mainland China's CSI 300 index ended the day flat at 3,786.88.
Over in Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 advanced 1.89% to end the day at 34,868.63, while the broader Topix index added 2.06% to 2,584.32.
In South Korea, the Kospi index ended the day 1.57% higher at 2,525.56 while the small-cap Kosdaq increased 1.39% to 726.08.
India's benchmark Nifty 50 moved up 0.52% while the broader BSE Sensex was up 0.45% as at 2.31 p.m. Indian Standard Time.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.33% to end the day at 7,920.50.
U.S. futures jumped after Trump's comments on not planning to remove Powell from his post as central bank chair.
Overnight stateside, stocks rebounded from steep declines in the previous session, as investors cheered the possibility of easing U.S.-China trade tensions.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1,016.57 points, or 2.66%, to close at 39,186.98. The S&P 500 gained 2.51% and settled at 5,287.76, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 2.71% to end at 16,300.42.
— CNBC's Lisa Kailai Han and Alex Harring contributed to this report.
Shares of Asian semiconductor stocks log sharp gains
Semiconductor-related stocks in Asia logged significant gains Wednesday as investors cheered the possibility of easing trade frictions between the U.S. and China.
Strong gains were seen in Taiwan's Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp and Hon Hai Precision Industry which surged 6.99% and 5.3% respectively as at 1.58 p.m Singapore time.
Shares of semiconductor-related names in Japan and South Korea also rose.
Semiconductor testing equipment supplier Advantest's shares was up 2.97% while technology conglomerate SoftBank - which owns a stake in chip designer Arm - moved 2.27% higher.
Shares of South Korea's SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics increased 4.37% and 1.45% respectively.
— Amala Balakrishner
Shares of Tesla suppliers in Asia rise despite the EV giant missing first-quarter earnings
A Tesla Cybertruck is parked in front of a showroom in Austin, Texas, on March 20, 2025.
Brandon Bell | Getty Images
Shares of electric vehicle makers and Tesla's suppliers in Asia rose Wednesday, tracking wider gains in the region Wednesday, despite a significant miss in the EV giant's first-quarter results.
The increase in the Asian stocks were fueled in large part by optimism over easing U.S.-China trade relations.
Strong moves were seen in the shares of Samsung SDI, which surged 6.99% and LG Chem, which added 4.41% as at 1.50 p.m. Singapore time. Both companies supply batteries to Tesla.
Shares of Panasonic Holdings - another battery supplier to Tesla - moved up 2.37%.
South Korean display manufacturer LG Display - which supplies car displays for Tesla's Model 3 - posted a 3.68% increase in its shares.
Shares of Asian EV makers rivalling Tesla also moved sharply.
BYD shares was last seen trading 4.47% higher, while other Chinese EV giants Nio and Xpeng had advanced 5.33% and 4.78% respectively.
— Amala Balakrishner
Singapore inflation stays at 4-year lows as city-state prepares for election
Singapore's inflation in March stayed at over four-year lows, with the city-state's consumer price index climbing 0.9% year on year.
This was lower than Reuters poll expectations of 1.1%, and the same as the 0.9% seen in February.
The inflation reading comes as Singapore gears up for a general election on May 3, with campaigning starting Wednesday as candidates filed their nomination papers.
Read the full story, here.
— Lim Hui Jie
Shares of Macquarie Group climb over 5% after Nomura's $1.8 billion purchase
Shares of Macquarie Group
— Amala Balakrishner
Australian mining stocks trade mixed as gold prices slide
Australian mining stocks traded mixed Wednesday as gold prices plunged on a possible easing in U.S-China trade tensions.
Gold miners were among the worst performers in the S&P/ASX 200 benchmark index.
Sharp declines were seen in Evolution Mining, which declined 10.15%, and Kingsgate Consolidated, which dropped 9.97%.
Shares of Perseus Mining and Newmont Corporation lost 7.94% and 5.63% respectively.
Meanwhile, shares of major miners rose, with BHP Group advancing 3.42%, Fortescue adding 3.08% and Rio Tinto increasing 2.05% as of 2.50 p.m. Australian Eastern Standard Time.
— Amala Balakrishner
Hong Kong-listed Chinese stocks rise nearly 2% on prospect of easing U.S-China trade tensions
Chinese stocks moved up Wednesday following optimism that U.S.-China trade tensions could ease.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index — which captures major Chinese stocks listed in Hong Kong — was up 2.09% as at 11.53 a.m. local time, extending its gains from its two previous sessions.
Gains were led by the technology, consumer cyclicals and educational services sectors, data from LSEG shows.
The three best-performing stocks on the index were Xiaomi Corp, which surged 6.53%, Xpeng, which gained 6.34% and Alibaba Group, which advanced 5.82%
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index ETF shows the day's moves:
Hang Seng China Enterprises ETF
Meanwhile, the CSI 300 index, which captures the 300 top stocks on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges, was last seen up 0.22%.
— Amala Balakrishner
Hong Kong shares surge in early trade as tech stocks rally
Hang Seng Tech ETF
Meanwhile, the Hang Seng Index was last seen up 1.62%, extending its gains from its previous two sessions.
— Amala Balakrishner
Taiwan shares surge 3.5%, reversing course from 2 sessions of losses
Taiwan's benchmark Taiex index surged 3.50% as of 10.24 a.m. local time, reversing course from two straight sessions of losses.
Gains were led by the technology, industrials and educational services sectors, data from LSEG shows.
The top performers include Av Tech Corp, which advanced 9.97%, while Lung Hwa Electronics and Machvision Inc both added 9.96%.
Meanwhile, shares of tech giants Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and Hon Hai Precision Industry - known globally as Foxconn - were last seen trading 5.02% and 4.17% higher.
The iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF shows the index's moves:
iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF
— Amala Balakrishner
Spot gold slides from record high as Trump's stance on China and Fed chair boosts sentiment
Spot gold fell Wednesday after crossing the $3,500 for the first time earlier in the week, following U.S. President Donald Trump's conciliatory comments on the U.S' trade relations with China as well as the Federal Reserve chair.
The precious metal had slid 0.55% as at 8.50 a.m. Singapore time to trade at $3362.85 per ounce.
Spot gold
— Amala Balakrishner
Japanese stocks surge over 2% in early trade
Japanese stocks surged over 2% in early trade Wednesday, leading gains in Asia markets as investor sentiment picked up on the potential easing of U.S-China trade tensions.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 was up 2.33% to 35,015.23 as at 9.29 a.m. local time.
Still, the index is down 14.22% since the start of the year.
Nikkei 225
Gains in the Nikkei 225, which last crossed the 35,000 threshold nearly three weeks ago on April 3, were led by the financials, consumer cyclicals and technology sectors, data from LSEG shows.
Among the top performing stocks were Taiyo Yuden which advanced 7.09%, Hitachi which added 5.11% and Fujikura, which increased 5.02%.
Meanwhile, the broad-based Topix index was up 2.17%.
— Amala Balakrishner
Stocks making the biggest moves after hours
Check out some of the companies making headlines in extended trading:
- Tesla — Shares were marginally lower in extended trading after first-quarter results missed analysts' estimates on the top and bottom lines. The electric vehicle company earned an adjusted 27 cents per share on revenue of $19.34 billion, while analysts polled by LSEG were looking for 39 cents per share in earnings and $21.11 billion in revenue.
- Enphase Energy — The energy technology company sank more than 12% after first-quarter results missed Wall Street estimates. Enphase reported adjusted earnings of 68 cents per share on revenue of $356 million, while analysts surveyed by LSEG forecast earnings of 70 cents per share and $361 million in revenue. The low end of Enphase's second-quarter revenue outlook also fell short of analysts' estimates.
- Intuitive Surgical — The biotechnology stock lost almost 6%. The company warned that its non-GAAP gross profit margin for 2025 will range from 65% to 66.5% of revenue, down from 69.1% in 2024, reflecting estimated effects from tariffs. The outlook overshadowed beats on the top and bottom lines for the first quarter.
Read the full list here.
— Brian Evans
English (US)