Beijing, March 18, 2025 – Asian markets rallied on Tuesday following another positive day on Wall Street stoked by US data that eased recession fears, while Chinese tech firms helped propel another surge in Hong Kong.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 went up 1.5 percent at 37,943.23, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was up 1.9 percent at 24,599.48, while Shanghai’s Composite was also up by 0.2 percent at 3,432.30
Traders have kicked off the week on a positive note after Beijing at the weekend unveiled a range of measures aimed at reigniting activity in China’s army of consumers.
However, SPI Asset Management’s Stephen Innes warned investors not to get too comfortable, with fresh levies on US trading partners due to kick in as soon as April 1.
“Don’t get too comfortable — nervous eyes remain locked on Washington’s tariff tumult,” he wrote in a commentary.
“The storm is far from over, and with the next escalation looming, the market is still walking a fine line between optimism and another sharp reality check.”
Uncertainty about the impact of the tariffs helped safe-haven gold hit a fresh record of $3,008.53 in early trade Tuesday.
This week is due to see policy decisions by the Federal Reserve, Bank of Japan and Bank of England, with all three forecast to stand pat on interest rates.
The US central bank’s announcement will also come with updates to its outlook for the economy and interest rates this year, in light of Trump’s trade measures as well as plans to slash taxes, immigration and federal jobs.
“We do not expect major changes in forward guidance on policy rates in the updated (policy board) statement,” said Ryan Wang, US economist for HSBC.
“The statement could repeat that risks to (its) employment and inflation goals ‘are roughly in balance’ and that the ‘economic outlook is uncertain’.” However, he did say that while he saw no major changes to the bank’s median economic outlook, “the changes that we do expect are in a pessimistic direction.”
