Asian Shares Mixed In Cautious Trade

Asian stocks ended mixed on Wednesday amid lingering tariff concerns and tense Russia-Ukraine negotiations.

The U.S. dollar held firm, and gold hovered near record levels while oil extended gains for a third straight session amid worries of oil supply disruptions in the U.S. and Russia.

China’s Shanghai Composite index jumped 0.81 percent to 3,351.54 despite comments from U.S. President Donald Trump that the U.S. may impose tariffs of around 25 percent on pharmaceutical, automobile, and semiconductor imports. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slid 0.14 percent to 22,944.24.

Japanese markets ended slightly lower after the release of mixed economic data, with exports rising 7.2 percent year-on-year in January while core machinery orders, a key indicator of capital spending, unexpectedly declined in December.

The Nikkei average dipped 0.27 percent to 39,164.61 as policy board member Hajime Takata called for gradual rate hikes to mitigate the risk of rising prices and financial market overheating. The broader Topix index settled 0.30 percent lower at 2,767.25.

Automakers Toyota, Honda Motor and Nissan fell around 2 percent each. Tech heavyweight SoftBank dropped 1.9 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing gave up 2.1 percent.

On the positive side, Advantest rose about 1 percent and Tokyo Electron jumped 3.5 percent.

Seoul stocks rose for the seventh consecutive day, with the Kospi average rising 1.70 percent to 2,671.52 led by technology stocks.

Samsung Electronics rallied 3.2 percent and SK Hynix surged over 4 percent after reports emerged that Broadcom and TSMC are eyeing Intel’s chip-design and manufacturing businesses.

Australian markets fell notably as data showed wages rose at the slowest annual pace in more than two years in the fourth quarter.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.73 percent to 8,419.20 while the broader All Ordinaries index ended down 0.66 percent at 8,699.10.

National Australia Bank shares plunged 8.1 percent. The country’s biggest business lender said that higher credit impairments against business loans contributed to a small fall in its unaudited December quarter cash earnings.

New Zealand shares slipped, with the benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index closing down 0.14 percent at 13,033.36 after the country’s central bank delivered a super-sized interest rate cut, as widely expected, and signaled further reductions in 2025.

U.S. stocks fluctuated before ending on a firm note overnight as focus shifted to Russia-Ukraine talks, upcoming Fed minutes and big retail earnings.

Investors also reacted to comments from several Fed officials that rates should stay at current levels to combat rising inflation.

In economic news, business activity for manufacturers in New York State unexpectedly rebounded in February, while confidence among homebuilders fell sharply in the month due to tariff concerns, elevated mortgage rates and high housing costs, separate set of data revealed.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2 percent to reach a new record closing high while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the Dow finished marginally higher.

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