Pedestrians walking across a crowded traffic at Shibuya crossing square in Tokyo, Japan.
Jaczhou | E+ | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets traded mostly higher Wednesday after Wall Street halted its six-day win streak.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 0.61% to close at 37,298.98 after the country reported that exports slowed for a second straight month as the country reels under U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.
South Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.91% to close at 2,625.58 while the small-cap Kosdaq traded 1.13% higher to close at 723.62.
Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.52% to close at 8,386.8.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.62% higher to close at 23,827.78 while mainland China’s CSI 300 added 0.47% to close at 3,916.38.
The Bank of Indonesia has cut its benchmark interest rate to 5.5%.
The bank slashed policy rates in September 2024, and then again in January 2025, keeping rates on hold at 5.75%, HSBC noted in a report.
The bank’s economists cited slow first-quarter GDP growth and weakening currency against the greenback as reasons for cutting rates.
U.S. futures were little changed. S&P 500 futures wavered Tuesday night following a losing session on Wall Street that snapped a winning streak. Futures tied to the broad index shed 0.2%, as did Nasdaq 100 futures. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures lost 93 points, or 0.2%.
Overnight stateside, the three major averages closed lower. Stocks slipped on Tuesday as the big tech-led rally lost steam and the S&P 500 ended a six-day winning run.
The S&P 500 fell 0.39% to end at 5,940.46, while the Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.38% and closed at 19,142.71. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 114.83 points, or 0.27%, finishing at 42,677.24. Investors dumped tech stocks, which had led the run over the past six days. The sector lost 0.5%. Nvidia slid 0.9%. Advanced Micro Devices, Meta Platforms, Apple and Microsoft also dropped.
— CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Jesse Pound contributed to this report.
