Asia-Pacific markets trade mixed as investors assess Trump tariffs – CNBC
Source: CNBC
This is CNBC’s live blog covering Asia-Pacific markets.
Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Tuesday as investors assessed U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff campaign.
Trump on Monday signed an order imposing 25% tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum into the U.S.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 closed flat at 8,484. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.71% to close at 2,539.05, while the small-cap Kosdaq ended flat at 749.59.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 0.87% in the last hour of trade, while mainland China’s CSI 300 dipped 0.46% to close at 3,883.14.
Singapore’s benchmark Straits Times Index slipped 0.36% after it hit an all-time intraday high of 3,910.12 on Monday.
India’s benchmark Nifty 50 was down 1.47%, while the BSE Sensex index was 0.79% lower.
Overnight in the U.S., the three major averages closed higher as major tech names outperformed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 167.01 points, or 0.38%, led by a 4.8% gain in McDonald’s. The 30-stock index closed at 44,470.41. The S&P 500 gained 0.67% to end at 6,066.44, and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.98% to 19,714.27.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is slated speak before Congress later in the day.
—CNBC’s Pia Singh and Brian Evans contributed to this report.
The Indian rupee appreciated 0.69% against the greenback to trade at 86.8, marking the sharpest single-day appreciation in nearly two years, data from LSEG showed, after it hit a record low Monday.
There is market speculation that the central bank intervened strongly on Tuesday to reverse one-sided depreciation pressures on the currency, Radhika Rao, senior economist at DBS told CNBC.
“The central bank’s decisive hand is likely to stabilize the rupee in the near-term, with an eye on the global dollar movements for near-term direction,” she said.
While the rupee has been gradually depreciating since late 2024, last week’s depreciation was “outsized” and not in sync with global conditions, she added.
Shares of Chinese EV maker BYD rose to a record high Tuesday, a day after the company launched advanced autonomous driving features on a majority of its models.
BYD shares rose as much as 4.54% in Hong Kong, before paring gains.
All BYD models above $100,000 yuan ($13,688) will now come with the company’s exclusive “God’s Eye” driver-assistance system, the company said.
Shares of Foxconn rose 2% after the company reported a 3.26% year-on-year jump in its January revenue.
The world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer said that the performance of the first quarter will be better than the average performance during the same period over the past five years, according to a Google translation of its statement in Korean.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended Monday’s trading session 167.01 points higher, or 0.38%, to close at 44,470.41. The S&P 500 gained 0.67% to end at 6,066.44, and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.98% to close at 19,714.27.
The KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF jumped 3% Monday after China’s retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods, including crude oil, natural gas and agricultural machinery, took effect.
This comes after President Trump imposed a 10% tariff on Chinese goods on Feb. 4.
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