Asia markets open mostly higher as investors assess Japan trade data, await China lending rates

Asia-Pacific markets opened mostly higher Wednesday, following a mixed day on Wall Street amid mounting geopolitical tensions between Ukraine and Russia.

Investors assessed October trade data out of Japan. Export growth came in at 3.1% year over year, topping estimates by economists polled by Reuters and up from a 1.7% drop in September. Import growth also beat estimates at 0.4% but was down from 2.1% the prior month.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 opened up 0.25, while the Topix rose 0.3%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures were at 19,619, slightly lower than the HSI’s last close of 19,663.67.

According to a Reuters poll, China is expected to leave its benchmark lending rates unchanged on Wednesday after they were cut in October.

South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.20% while the Kosdaq Index dropped 0.27%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was 0.15% lower.

Overnight in the U.S., the Nasdaq popped 1.04% to finish at 18,987.47, while the S&P 500 gained 0.4% to end at 5,916.98. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 120.66 points, or 0.28%, to settle at 43,268.94.

The market pressure began overnight after Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the U.S. that the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons had lowered, a new stance coming after President Joe Biden allowed Ukraine to use U.S. weapons to strike inside Russia.

Losses then accelerated on reports that Ukraine hit the Russian border region Bryansk with U.S.-made missiles.

— CNBC’s Samantha Subin and Pia Singh contributed to this report.