HONG KONG — Asian markets were mostly lower on Wednesday but Japan’s benchmark index gained nearly 1% after a rally in technology stocks propelled the Nasdaq composite to a record high.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 1.5% to 20,381.91 and the Shanghai Composite index dropped 0.6% to 3,266.65. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.96% at 39,277.39, as the Bank of Japan began a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday.
The European Union has imposed higher tariffs, up to 45.3%, on electric vehicles imported from China. The extra tariffs, which took effect on Wednesday, are the result of over a year of anti-subsidy probes that also prompted countermeasures from Beijing.
China’s Ministry of Commerce on Wednesday said in a statement that it “does not agree with or accept” the tariffs.
Chinese EV companies’ stocks dropped in response. Nio’s Hong Kong-listed stock fell 5.4%, Geely was down 2.7% and BYD shed 0.6%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.8% to 8,180.40 after its inflation rate in the third quarter came in at 2.8%, the lowest level in more than three years, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Elsewhere, South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.9% to 2,593.79 and Taiwan’s Taiex lost 0.5%.
U.S. futures and oil prices rose.
The S&P 500 rose 0.2% to 5,832.92 on Tuesday. Gains for influential Big Tech stocks helped mask weakness elsewhere, and they pushed the Nasdaq composite up 0.8% to 18,712.75. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, fell 0.4% to 42,233.05.
Mortgage rates have been climbing recently because the 10-year Treasury yield has been charging higher.
Yields have rallied as report after report has shown the U.S. economy remains stronger than expected. On Tuesday, reports said confidence among U.S. consumers jumped more than economists expected, while the number of job openings edged lower in September, but the number of hires remained relatively steady.
Such numbers have forced traders to ratchet back expectations for how much the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates, now that it’s just as focused on keeping the economy humming as getting inflation down. Traders are even betting on a slim chance the Fed will keep its main interest rate steady at its meeting next week, according to data from CME Group.
That’s after the Fed kicked off its rate-cutting campaign in September with a larger-than-usual reduction. Just a month ago, many traders were thinking the Fed would follow up in November with another bigger-than-usual cut.
Yields have also climbed as investors have seen former President Donald Trump’s chances of re-election improving. Economists say a Trump win could help push inflation higher in the long term, and worsening inflation could lead to higher interest rates.
Trump Media & Technology Group, the company that tends to move more with Trump’s re-election odds than on its own profit prospects, climbed another 8.8% to $51.51 Tuesday. It moved so sharply during the day that trading of its stock was briefly halted several times. The parent company of Trump’s Truth Social platform has been rallying since hitting a bottom of roughly $12 in late September.
Treasury yields, like stocks, have historically tended to be shaky heading into an Election Day, only to calm afterward regardless of which party wins.
In other dealings early Thursday, U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 51 cents to $67.72 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent crude, the international standard, surged 54 cents to $71.27 per barrel.
The dollar slipped to 153.34 Japanese yen from 153.36 yen. The euro rose to $1.0821 from $1.0819.