A man carrying a kite in the shape of the Chinese national flag walks along the Bund while buildings of Pudong’s Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets were set to open mixed Wednesday as U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs continue to dent investor sentiment as trade tensions rise globally.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.22% at the open.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 futures pointed to a lower open for the market. The futures contract in Chicago was at 37,210 and its counterpart in Osaka last traded at 36,950 compared with the index’s previous close of 37,331.18.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index were at 23,014, higher than the HSI’s last close of 22,941.77.
Investors will be looking out for announcements coming out of China’s “Two Sessions,” an annual parliamentary gathering which began on Tuesday, where Beijing is poised to outline economic measures including its growth target for the year.
The meeting of its top legislature, the National People’s Congress, is scheduled to open on Wednesday.
Trump’s 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada took effect Tuesday. The president also imposed an additional 10% duty on Chinese goods, bringing the total new tariffs on China to 20%.
Australia is also set to release its fourth-quarter GDP later in the day.
Overnight in the U.S., the three major averages closed lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled for a second day, dropping 670.25 points, or 1.55% and ended the session at 42,520.99. The S&P 500 dropped 1.22% to close at 5,778.15 after notching its worst day of the year in the prior session. The Nasdaq Composite lost 0.35% and finished at 18,285.16.
—CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Alex Harring contributed to this report.
