CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Wednesday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, after US President Donald Trump said tariffs on China would be trimmed down from the current 145 percent rate. Reports also indicate that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told a closed-door investor summit he expects the trade dispute between the U.S. and China to de-escalate. Asian markets closed mixed on Tuesday.
Australian shares are trading sharply higher on Wednesday, recouping the slight losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving well below the 7,900 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains across most sectors led by financial and technology stocks. Gold miners were the only weak spot.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 127.10 points or 1.63 percent to 7,943.80, after touching a high of 7,958.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 130.60 points or 1.63 percent to 8,144.30. Australian stocks ended slightly lower on Tuesday.
Among major miners, BHP Group is gaining almost 3 percent, Rio Tinto is adding almost 2 percent, Mineral Resources is advancing more than 3 percent and Fortescue Metals is rising more than 2 percent.
Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is advancing more than 2 percent and Santos is adding more than 3 percent each, while Beach energy and Origin Energy are gaining almost 2 percent each.
In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is surging more than 8 percent, Xero is gaining almost 2 percent and Zip is advancing more than 5 percent, while Appen and WiseTech Global are adding almost 4 percent each.
Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking and Westpac are gaining more than 2 percent each, while National Australia Bank is adding almost 3 percent. Commonwealth Bank is flat.
Among gold miners, Resolute Mining and Evolution Mining are slipping more than 7 percent each, while Gold Road Resources is sliding almost 5 percent, Newmont is losing more than 4 percent and Northern Star Resources is declining almost 6 percent.
In other news, shares in Paladin Energy are skyrocketing more than 19 percent after reporting record quarterly output of triuranium octoxide at its Langer Heinrich mine even as a major rainfall in Namibia affected operations.
Shares in Telix Pharmaceuticals are soaring more than 14 percent after reporting a 62 percent jump in revenues that was driven by strong sales of its imaging agent for men with prostate cancer.
Shares in Cettire are sinking almost 13 percent after it reported weak demand from US customers owing to the impact of US President Donald Trump's tariffs and earnings fell.
Shares in Capricorn Metals are tumbling more than 8 percent after it stood down its chief executive, who has been charged with aggravated assault.
In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to expand in April, albeit at a slower rate, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Wednesday with a manufacturing PMI score of 51.7. That's down from 52.1 in March, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The services and composite PMIs both slipped to 51.4 in April from 51.6 in the previous month
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.639 on Wednesday.
The Japanese stock market is trading sharply higher on Wednesday, reversing the losses in the previous two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving just above the 34,800 level, with gains across all sectors led by index heavyweights and financial stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 34,808.80, up 588.20 points or 1.72 percent, after touching a high of 35,142.12 earlier. Japanese stocks ended modestly lower on Tuesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is adding almost 2 percent and Toyota is gaining almost 4 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest and Tokyo Electron are gaining more than 2 percent each, while Screen Holdings is edging down 0.5 percent.
In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is declining more than 4 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are adding more than 3 percent each.
Among the major exporters, Canon, Panasonic and Mitsubishi Electric are gaining almost 3 percent each, while Sony is adding more than 3 percent.
Among other major gainers, FUJIFILM is soaring almost 12 percent, Konica Minolta is surging almost 10 percent and Shiseido is advancing more than 5 percent, while Dai-ichi Life and Taiyo Yuden are gaining almost 5 percent each. Fujikura, T&D Holdings, Hino Motors, Tokyo Electric Power, Nidec, Furukawa Electric, Subaru, Yaskawa Electric and TDK are all adding more than 4 percent each.
Conversely, there are no other major losers.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 141 yen-range on Wednesday.
Elsewhere in Asia, Taiwan is surging 3.5 percent, while New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia are higher by between 0.7 and 1.5 percent each. China is relatively flat.
On the Wall Street, stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading day on Tuesday, regaining ground following the sell-off seen in the previous session. The major averages all showed significant moves to the upside, with the Dow and the Nasdaq closing higher for the first time in five days.
The major averages surged in morning trading and remained firmly positive throughout the afternoon. The Dow soared 1,016.57 points or 2.7 percent to 39,186.98, the Nasdaq spiked 429.52 points or 2.7 percent to 16,300.41 and the S&P 500 shot up 129.56 points or 2.5 percent to 5,287.76.
The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index increased by 0.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both climbed by 0.6 percent.
Crude oil prices moved sharply higher on Tuesday after the Treasury Department announced new sanctions against Iran. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery surged $1.23 or 2.0 percent to $64.31 a barrel.
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