Japan equities climb as region starts trading day in the green
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 1.71% at the open, while the Topix climbed 1.87% as of 9.09 a.m. Japan time (8.09 p.m. ET Tuesday).
South Korea’s Kospi added 0.89% and the small-cap Kosdaq was 0.22% higher.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.34%.
—Lee Ying Shan
Trump announces ‘massive’ trade deal with Japan with 15% tariffs
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday stateside announced that he had made the “largest Deal ever” with Japan, which involves tariffs of 15% on the country’s exports to the U.S.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump also said that Japan will invest $550 billion into the United States, adding that the U.S. will “receive 90% of the Profits.”
Trump also said that Japan will “open their Country to Trade, including Cars and Trucks, Rice and certain other Agricultural Products, and other things.”
The U.S. president added that the deal would also create “Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs.”
Read the full story here.
— Lim Hui Jie
Here are the opening calls for the day
Happy mid-week from Singapore! Asia markets were poised to open higher. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 was set to start the trading day higher, with the futures contract in Chicago at 40,185 against the index’s last close at 39,774.92.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was also on track to start the day higher with futures tied to the benchmark at 8,681, compared with its last close of 8,677.20.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 25,321, pointing to a stronger open compared with the HSI’s last close of 25,130.03.
— Lee Ying Shan
S&P 500, Dow close in positive territory
The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed in the green on Tuesday.
The broad market index rose 0.06% to close at 6,309.62, marking another record close for the index. The blue-chip Dow climbed 179.37 points, or 0.4%, to finish at 44,502.44.
On the other hand, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.39% to end the day at 20,892.69.
— Sean Conlon
U.S. has reached trade and military deal with the Philippines, Trump says
U.S. President Donald Trump and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., meet in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 22, 2025.
Kent Nishimura | Reuters
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the U.S. has reached a trade agreement with the Philippines.
“President Ferdinand Marcos, of the Philippines, is just leaving the White House, with all of his many Representatives. It was a beautiful visit, and we concluded our Trade Deal, whereby The Philippines is going OPEN MARKET with the United States, and ZERO Tariffs. The Philippines will pay a 19% Tariff,” the president said in a Truth Social post.
Trump also said that the two countries will “will work together Militarily.”
The Philippines has yet to confirm the deal.
— Kevin Breuninger, Sean Conlon