Asian Equities, Futures Advance as Selloff Eases: Markets Wrap

Trump tried to damp concerns of a recession in the US economy.

“I don’t see it at all. I think this country’s going to boom,” he said at the White House. He added that markets “are going to go up and they’re going to go down. But you know what, we have to rebuild our country.”

In geopolitics, less than two weeks after Trump lambasted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in an Oval Office confrontation, the US president put the pressure on Russia to accept a ceasefire agreement hammered out with Zelenskiy’s advisers.

The accord reached in Saudi Arabia by US and Ukrainian negotiators for a 30-day halt in the conflict, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion three years ago, now hinges on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The White House also confirmed that 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum would take effect on Canada and other nations, as Trump backed off a threat to impose 50% duties on the largest US trading partner’s metals.

The yield on 10-year Australian bonds climbed seven basis points in early trading, tracking US moves. Japanese 30-year yield also rose to highest since 2006.

Chinese stocks remain a focus as investors continue to rotate toward the nation’s equities from their US peers. A gauge of Chinese shares listed in Hong Kong is up 20% this year despite the threat of further US tariffs. Talks between the US and China on trade and other issues are stuck at lower levels, with both sides failing to agree on the best way to proceed, according to people familiar with the matter.

The budding “stability in the Chinese property market and governmental efforts to revive the wealth effect in the system will support consumption,” said Rajiv Batra, JPMorgan’s head of Asia and co-head of global emerging-market equity strategy. “And remember, China still has dry powder left.”

On the US consumer inflation reading later Wednesday, economists forecast it stayed elevated last month after a large increase in January, adding to evidence that progress on taming prices has stalled. The consumer price index is seen advancing 0.3% in February after a 0.5% gain at the start of the year.

Markets “will be wary of further signs of sticky prices,” said Kyle Rodda, a senior analyst at Capital.com in Melbourne. “Further evidence of inflation stuck at current levels will raise concerns that the Fed will lack the wiggle room to cut rates if Trump’s economic policies cause a precipitous slowdown in economic growth.”

Do tariffs matter more than the Fed for US stock markets in 2025? Share your views in the latest MLIV Pulse survey here.

Key events this week:

• Canada rate decision, Wednesday

• US CPI, Wednesday

• Eurozone industrial production, Thursday

• US PPI, initial jobless claims, Thursday

• US University of Michigan consumer sentiment, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• S&P 500 futures rose 0.3% as of 12:03 p.m. Tokyo time

• Japan’s Topix rose 0.9%

• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.4%

• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.2%

• The Shanghai Composite was little changed

• Euro Stoxx 50 futures rose 1%

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1%

• The euro fell 0.1% to $1.0905

• The Japanese yen fell 0.2% to 148.03 per dollar

• The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.2241 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin fell 0.5% to $82,341.98

• Ether fell 2.3% to $1,892.04

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.27%

• Japan’s 10-year yield advanced 2.5 basis points to 1.530%

• Australia’s 10-year yield advanced eight basis points to 4.45%

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.7% to $66.70 a barrel

• Spot gold rose 0.1% to $2,919.43 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

--With assistance from Matthew Burgess, Chris Bourke and Abhishek Vishnoi.

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