Asia-Pacific markets were mixed in early trading on Wednesday as investors remained cautious ahead of United States President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff rollout, expected to take effect on Thursday morning.
By 11:25 am AEDT (12:25 am GMT), Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.3%, South Korea’s Kospi 200 slipped 0.6%, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.4%.
ANZ analysts highlighted the impact of U.S. policy uncertainty on global equities, noting that the S&P 500 remains around 8.5% below its February peak ahead of the 2 April tariff announcements.
"We are not yet at the point where we feel the need to add additional RBA easing to our forecasts on account of global uncertainty.
"However, further weakness in markets stemming from policy uncertainty, or even a prolonged sideways trend after the recent declines, would raise the risk that the RBA eases more than we currently expect."
Overnight, U.S. markets closed mixed, with the S&P 500 gaining 0.4% to 5,633.1, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.9% to 17,449.9. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down 11.80 points, or 0.03%, to 41,990.0.
In commodities, Brent crude slipped 0.4% to US$74.49 per barrel, while spot gold eased 0.3% from record highs to US$3,113.88 per ounce.
Chinese markets posted modest gains, with the Shanghai Composite rising 0.4% to 3,348.4, while the CSI 300 remained flat at 3,887.7.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index also advanced 0.4% to 23,206.8, while India’s BSE Sensex slumped 1.8% to 76,024.5.
European markets ended higher, with the FTSE 100 climbing 0.6% to 8,634.8, Germany’s DAX gaining 1.7% to 22,540.0, and France’s CAC 40 rising 1.1% to 7,876.4.
