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Asia-Pacific markets were set to mostly rise Tuesday following gains on all three Wall Street benchmarks overnight, despite mounting global trade frictions.
China pushed back against the U.S.’ accusations that it had violated a temporary trade agreement. Instead, the Asian powerhouse blamed Washington for failing to uphold the deal — a sign that negotiations between the world’s two largest economies are deteriorating.
Menawhile, the European Union criticized U.S. President Donald Trump’s intention to double steel tariffs to 50%, saying that such a move “undermines” its own negotiations with the U.S. An EU spokesperson said that the bloc was “prepared to impose countermeasures.”
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 was set to open flat, with the futures contract in Chicago at 37,720 while its counterpart in Osaka last traded at 37,770 against the index’s last close of 37,470.67.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 23,138 pointing to a flat open compared to the HSI’s close of 23,157.97.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 is set to start the day higher, with futures tied to the benchmark at 8503.0 compared to its last close of 8,414.10. Economists polled by Reuters estimated the country’s current account balance for the first quarter of 2025 – expected to come later in the day – to hit 13.1 billion Australian dollars ($8.51 billion), from 12.5 billion in the previous quarter.
Meanwhile, a separate Reuters poll forecast that China’s Caixin Manufacturing PMI will reach 50.6 in May, from 50.4 in the month before.
South Korean markets were closed for polling day.
— CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Sean Conlon contributed to this report.