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Asian stocks edged higher on Wednesday as investors prepared for new U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminium, a fresh turn in the ongoing trade dispute. The dollar reached near its weakest point in six weeks as traders weighed the potential fallout. The KOSPI, South Korea’s main stock index, jumped over 2% to its highest point since August 2024. In the rest of the region, the MSCI Asia-Pacific index outside Japan rose by 0.6% as mentioned in a Reuters report. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose by 0.8%, while Taiwan’s stock market saw a 1.6% increase, spurred in part by Nvidia’s strong performance in U.S. markets overnight. [.N] In mainland China, blue-chip stocks were nearly flat in early trading, inching up by 0.09%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index added 0.27%. “Markets may be desensitized to trade headlines, but Trump-Xi talks remain in focus. A grand deal looks unlikely, yet any escalation could still spark a bout of risk aversion,” said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo in Singapore. OECD cuts global growth forecast to 2.9% for 2025 and 2026 Wednesday marked the deadline for U.S. trading partners to submit proposals that could help them avoid President Trump’s planned “Liberation Day” tariffs, set to take effect in five weeks. On Wednesday at 04:01 GMT, Trump’s surprise move to raise existing tariffs on steel and aluminium from 25% to 50% officially took effect, following an order he signed last week. “We believe that the steel and aluminium tariffs are an exemplar of other strategic tariffs that are coming and likely to ‘stick,’” said Thierry Wizman, global FX and rates strategist at Macquarie. “With that, there’s still little impetus for a U.S. dollar rally to take hold.” The on-again, off-again nature of U.S. tariffs has driven investors away from American assets and toward safe havens…

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Filed under: News - @ June 4, 2025 5:25 am