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Asia-Pacific markets rose 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.
Meanwhile, 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 Nikkei 225 benchmark moved up 0.36% at the open, while the broader Topix index was flat.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 benchmark added 0.19%. 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.
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.
Separately, a 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.
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