Asia-Pacific markets open mostly higher, shrugging off Trump tariff fears

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 opened mostly higher Wednesday amid worries over U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and escalating global trade tensions.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.73%.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.25% while the Topix rose 0.28%. South Korea’s Kospi climbed 1.09% while the small-cap Kosdaq advanced 1.26%.

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.

Bitcoin erases all of its gain from Trump crypto reserve announcement

A cryptocurrency ATM in Hong Kong, Nov. 6, 2024.

Lam Yik | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The price of bitcoin failed to recover the $85,000 level — where it traded before President Donald Trump’s announcement of a U.S. crypto reserve sent it soaring — after a sell-off driven by tariff concerns knocked it down.

Bitcoin was last lower by 2% on Tuesday at $83,508.78, according to Coin Metrics, and off its all-time high by 23%.

Coinbase and Robinhood fell 2% and 4%, respectively, in premarket trading. Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy, lost 4%.

Investors and analysts warn that economic uncertainty could keep its hold on bitcoin throughout March, with the crypto industry absent a specific catalyst. After reaching its record in January, it posted its worst month since 2022 in February.

For more, read our full story here.

— Tanaya Macheel

A trader works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange on Feb. 24, 2025.

Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters

Wall Street’s so-called fear gauge, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), shot up as President Donald Trump’s tariffs took effect.

The index rose more than 1 point on Tuesday, the first day with Trump’s 25% levies on Mexico and Canada in action. The VIX saw its biggest one-day spike of 2025 on Monday, jumping more than 3 points after Trump reaffirmed plans for the long-awaited import taxes to go forward, which hampered hopes of a last-minute deal.

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