View of the Skytree from Ueno and Asakusa in Tokyo
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Asia-Pacific markets traded mostly higher Wednesday after Wall Street benchmarks mostly rose on easing U.S.-China trade tensions.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 climbed 0.37% at the open, extending gains after four consecutive positive sessions. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.78%.
Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 traded flat.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index stood at 23,288, higher than its last close of 23,108.27.
Wall Street rebounded after the U.S. and China reached a temporary truce on tariffs earlier this week. The development led to stocks surging with the Dow gaining more than 1,000 points Monday.
At current levels, however, Julius Baer strategists remain cautious, adding that the bank “does not share the prevailing optimism” regarding a quick resolution of the trade conflict.
“Even if new deals are announced, they are likely to involve complex conditions and protracted implementation timelines, making a full rollback of tariffs to pre-conflict levels unlikely,” the bank said in a Tuesday note.
Investors will be keeping an eye on Asian chip stocks after shares of Nvidia jumped following CEO Jensen Huang’s remarks that the company will sell more than 18,000 of its latest artificial intelligence chipsto Saudi firm Humain, a new AI startup owned by the country’s Public Investment Fund.
U.S. stock futures were little changed as Wall Street looks to extend a strong start to the week. Futures tied to theS&P 500were flat, as wereNasdaq 100 futures. Dow Jones Industrial Averagefutures added 30 points, or less than 0.1%.
Overnight stateside, the three major averages closed mixed. TheS&P 500rose, clawing back into positive territory for the year as investors extended the sharp gains seen in the previous session. The broad market index gained 0.72% to close at 5,886.55, while theNasdaq Compositeclimbed 1.61% to end at 19,010.08.
TheDow Jones Industrial Averagelagged, losing 269.67 points, or 0.64%, as a nearly 18% drop in shares ofUnitedHealthpressured the benchmark.
— CNBC’s Brian Evans and Yun Li contributed to this report.
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