Yukinori Hasumi | Moment | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets rose on Tuesday, tracking gains on Wall Street, which ticked up after U.S. retail sales data appeared to ease recession concerns.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index led gains in Asia, rising 1.93% on the back of strong moves in tech giants like Baidu, which was up 9.83% as at 11:46 a.m. local time.
Meanwhile, mainland China’s CSI 300 was up 0.15%, reversing course from losses in the previous session.
Investors will be keeping a close watch on Japanese markets, as the Bank of Japan kicks off its two-day monetary policy meeting on Tuesday. The central bank is widely expected to hold interest rates steady at 0.5% when the meeting concludes on Wednesday.
The BOJ’s two-day meeting coincides with the U.S. Federal Reserve, with the latter also expected to keep interest rates unchanged.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rallied 1.43%, while the broader Topix index rose 1.41%.
Over in South Korea, the Kospi index advanced 0.17%, while the small-cap Kosdaq added 0.11% in choppy trade.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 traded flat, paring gains from earlier in the session.
India’s benchmark Nifty 50 had ticked up 0.45% at the open, while the BSE Sensex increased 0.43%.
U.S. futures edged down, even after all three benchmarks made a comeback from a four-week decline exacerbated by falling consumer confidence and U.S. President Donald Trump’s chaotic tariff policy rollout.
The S&P 500 gained 0.64% to close at 5,675.12, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.31% and ended at 17,808.66. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also advanced 353.44 points, or 0.85%, to end at 41,841.63.
The 30-stock index was bolstered by gains in Walmart and International Business Machines. All three of the major averages posted back-to-back gains.
— CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Sarah Min contributed to this report.
Hang Seng Tech Index surges over 2% on tech rally
Hang Seng Tech ETF
— Amala Balakrishner
Spot gold appreciates 0.39% to hit fresh high
Spot gold appreciated 0.39% hit a fresh record high of $3,013.35 per ounce on Tuesday morning Singapore time.
The price of the precious metal surged ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy meeting that concludes Wednesday stateside.
Market watchers expect the U.S. central bank to hold interest rates in March and cut in June.
Gold does not accrue interest and is seen as a safe haven asset, so its price tends to rise when rates fall and the economic environment is uncertain.
Spot Gold price
— Amala Balakrishner
Shares in Baidu surge nearly 10% after new launches
Shares in tech giant Baidu surged as much as 9.94% in early trade on Tuesday, after it launched two new artificial intelligence models.
The launches include a reasoning-focused model that the company said rivals DeepSeek’s model.
Shares in Baidu
— Amala Balakrishner
BYD shares surge after EV giant announces new fast-charging technology
Shares in Chinese automaker BYD rose as much as 8.85% shortly after the open, following its announcement of a new technology that allows electric cars to be charged at a much faster rate.
Shares in BYD
Read more, here.
— Amala Balakrishner, Sam Meredith
Tokio Marine shares rise over 5%
Shares in Japanese insurer Tokio Marine Holdings rose as much as 5.03% on Tuesday, extending its gains for the fifth-straight trading session.
Nikkei 225
— Amala Balakrishner
Reserve Bank of Australia leaders express caution on further rate cuts
Australia’s central bank is more cautious than the market about further policy easing, following its interest rate cut last month, according to Reuters.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 4.1% in February — its first easing since November 2020.
“The February decision reflected a judgement by the board that it was the right time to take some restrictiveness away, but the board were more cautious than the market about prospects for further easing,” the central bank’s Assistant Governor Sarah Hunter said Tuesday.
Hunter — who also heads the RBA’s economics unit — said she was echoing recent comments by the central bank Governor Michele Bullock and Deputy Governor Andrew Hauser.
Australia’s economy expanded 1.3% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2024, accelerating for the first time since September 2023.
The GDP growth surpassed the 1.2% rise expected by economists polled by Reuters, as well as the 1.1% climb forecast by the RBA.
— Amala Balakrishner
Brace for more volatility over ‘at least the next couple weeks,’ says Haworth of U.S. Bank Asset Management.
While stocks were on pace to post another positive session on Monday following their sell-off over the past few weeks, more volatility may be coming down the pike, according to Rob Haworth of U.S. Bank Asset Management.
“The surprising thing and the challenge for the market has been the fluctuation of tariffs with our biggest trading partners,” the senior investment strategist said. “Volatility is probably in the cards for at least the next couple of weeks and could extend beyond that depending upon what the back-and-forth looks like when it comes to tariffs.”
The strategist’s remarks come as President Trump’s temporary tariff exemptions for some goods imported from Canada and Mexico are set to expire on April 2.
— Sean Conlon
National Economic Council Director Hassett says there’ll be ‘uncertainty’ around tariffs until April 2
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Monday that there will be economic uncertainty around tariffs for another few weeks.
“Absolutely, between now and April 2, there’ll be some uncertainty,” Hassett said on “Squawk Box,” referring to the scheduled date for the Trump administration’s “reciprocal” tariff plans to be revealed.
Hassett did say that there should be “absolute clarity” about the administration’s goals once the reciprocal tariffs are worked out.
— Jesse Pound, Kevin Breuninger