(Bloomberg) — Asian stocks were poised to track a lackluster session on Wall Street as Donald Trump ruled out extending his August tariff deadline. US copper prices surged after the president called for a 50% levy on imports.
Futures for Tokyo’s equity benchmark showed a small gain, while those for Sydney and Hong Kong were little changed. The S&P 500 barely budged as traders remained on guard for headline risk. An index of US-listed Chinese shares gained a fifth day, its longest streak of advances since October.
US copper prices jumped 13% in New York — a record gain to an all-time high closing price — on Trump’s remarks, widening their premium to the London benchmark. The commodity gave up some of its gains in early Asian trading Wednesday. A gauge of drugmakers whipsawed as Trump indicated he may offer pharmaceutical manufacturers at least a year before applying a 200% tariff on foreign-made products.
Treasuries slipped, with 30-year yields approaching 5%, following a rout in longer-dated Japanese bonds and German bunds. A $58 billion US sale of three-year notes drew soft demand. That was the first in a trio of auctions this week. The dollar wavered while the yen lagged peers.
Trump signaled a renewed determination to push ahead with his plans to heavily tax foreign imports. He also told reporters that despite progress with the European Union on a trade deal, frustration over the bloc’s taxes and fines targeting US technology firms could result in him unilaterally declaring a new tariff rate within the next two days.
“Trade-war headlines are regaining momentum, but that doesn’t mean we’re in for a repeat of late March and early April,” said Bret Kenwell at eToro. “If there is confidence that negotiations will continue or deadlines will be extended, markets may continue to shake off the headlines.”
However, Kenwell noted that if investors feel the trade situation could become “more bite than bark,” we could very well see another pullback in stocks. A 5% to 10% pullback will likely be viewed as a buying opportunity by retail investors, he noted.
“While tariffs will likely remain high — compared with levels at the start of the year — as will the headline risk, we think the US effective tariff rate should end the year at around 15%,” said Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi at UBS Global Wealth Management. “This would be a headwind to growth but not enough to trigger a recession.”
She continued to recommend phasing into global equities or diversified portfolios to navigate volatility ahead.
Investors should look to reload on hedges ahead of the Aug. 1 tariff deadline as US equity indexes are near record highs with geopolitical risk premium largely dissipated, JPMorgan Chase & Co. strategists led by Bram Kaplan wrote.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
- S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 8:35 a.m. Tokyo time
- Hang Seng futures were little changed
- S&P/ASX 200 futures were little changed
Currencies
- The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
- The euro was unchanged at $1.1725
- The Japanese yen fell 0.1% to 146.77 per dollar
- The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.1832 per dollar
- The Australian dollar was little changed at $0.6528
Cryptocurrencies
- Bitcoin rose 0.2% to $108,927.45
- Ether rose 0.5% to $2,613.04
Bonds
- Australia’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 4.31%
Commodities
- West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.3% to $68.15 a barrel
- Spot gold fell 0.1% to $3,298.59 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Rob Verdonck.
©2025 Bloomberg L.P.