Asia-Pacific markets rise as Hong Kong tech stocks rally; Baidu shares pop 12%

Asia-Pacific markets rose on Tuesday, tracking gains on Wall Street, which ticked up after U.S. retail sales data appeared to ease recession concerns.

 

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index led gains in Asia, rising 2.29% in its last hour on the back of strong moves in tech giants like Baidu, which was up 12.11% as at 3.45 p.m. local time.

 

Meanwhile, mainland China's CSI 300 advanced 0.27% to end the day at 4,007.72.

 

Investors will be keeping a close watch on Japanese markets, as the Bank of Japan kicks off its two-day monetary policy meeting on Tuesday. The central bank is widely expected to hold interest rates steady at 0.5% when the meeting concludes on Wednesday.

 

The BOJ's two-day meeting coincides with the U.S. Federal Reserve, with the latter also expected to keep interest rates unchanged.

 

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 ended the day 1.20% higher at 37,845.42, while the broader Topix index rose 1.29% to 2,783.56.

 

Over in South Korea, the Kospi index closed flat at 2,612.34 while the small-cap Kosdaq added 0.27% to end at 745.54.

 

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 ended the day flat at 7,860.40, paring gains from earlier in the session.

 

India's benchmark Nifty 50 added 1.20%, while the BSE Sensex increased 1.07% as at 1.15 p.m. local time.

 

U.S. futures edged down, even after all three benchmarks made a comeback from a four-week decline exacerbated by falling consumer confidence and U.S. President Donald Trump's chaotic tariff policy rollout.

 

The S&P 500 gained 0.64% to close at 5,675.12, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.31% and ended at 17,808.66. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also advanced 353.44 points, or 0.85%, to end at 41,841.63.

 

The 30-stock index was bolstered by gains in Walmart and International Business Machines. All three of the major averages posted back-to-back gains.

 

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index traded more than 2% higher on Tuesday.

 

Many major Chinese companies are listed on the index, which is up 22.88% since the start of the year. The strong gains are led by tech giants.

 

The Hang Seng Tech Index was up 3.28% as at 2.43 p.m. local time. Top performers include Baidu which added 11.79%, NIO Inc was up 8.03% and Li Auto which rose 5.99%.

 

Swiss investment bank Julius Baer has downgraded its "long-standing constructive stance" on U.S. equities and is now looking out for opportunities in other markets.

 

"With U.S. equities in oversold territory and a short-term countertrend bounce likely, we see this as an opportunity to further diversify into non-U.S. markets in the coming weeks," Mathieu Racheter, head of equity strategy research at Julius Baer, wrote in a Tuesday note.

 

"Whether this divergence is sustainable hinges on whether the U.S. slowdown remains contained or escalates into a full-blown recession," he added.

 

For instance, Racheter expects the rotation into non-U.S. equities to persist in the case of a moderate slowdown in the U.S. economy. However, he said a recession in the world's largest economy is likely to trigger a broader bear market globally.

 

Racheter is playing the European market with Swiss equities — which offer a "combination of defensive quality and reasonable valuations" — and German mid-caps.

 

In Asia, he is overweight on Chinese equities "which are in a cyclical bull market" and Indian names which "provide long-term structural growth exposure."

 

Shares in Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer Nio rallied on Tuesday, rising 17.24% as at 11.57 a.m. local time.

 

This comes on the back of its partnership with Chinese battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology.

 

As part of this, the companies will build a battery swapping network for passenger vehicles and provide efficient recharging solutions for users. They are also seeking to unify industry technical standards, enhance capital and business collaboration, according to a Tuesday announcement.

 

Shares in CATL were flat after the announcement.— Amala Balakrishner

 

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Tech Index traded 2.27% higher at 11.15 a.m. local time.

 

Top performers include Baidu, which surged 9.94%, Alibaba Group Holdings, which rose 5.31%, and Tencent Music Entertainment Group which was up 5.93%.

 

The Hang Seng Tech Index ETF shows the day's moves:

 

Spot gold appreciated 0.39% hit a fresh record high of $3,013.35 per ounce on Tuesday morning Singapore time.

 

The price of the precious metal surged ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy meeting that concludes Wednesday stateside.

 

Market watchers expect the U.S. central bank to hold interest rates in March and cut in June.

 

Gold does not accrue interest and is seen as a safe haven asset, so its price tends to rise when rates fall and the economic environment is uncertain.

 

Shares in tech giant Baidu surged as much as 9.94% in early trade on Tuesday, after it launched two new artificial intelligence models.

 

The launches include a reasoning-focused model that the company said rivals DeepSeek's model.

 

Shares in Chinese automaker BYD rose as much as 8.85% shortly after the open, following its announcement of a new technology that allows electric cars to be charged at a much faster rate.

 

Shares in Japanese insurer Tokio Marine Holdings rose as much as 5.03% on Tuesday, extending its gains for the fifth-straight trading session.

 

Australia's central bank is more cautious than the market about further policy easing, following its interest rate cut last month, according to Reuters.

 

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 4.1% in February — its first easing since November 2020.

 

"The February decision reflected a judgement by the board that it was the right time to take some restrictiveness away, but the board were more cautious than the market about prospects for further easing," the central bank's Assistant Governor Sarah Hunter said Tuesday.

 

Hunter — who also heads the RBA's economics unit — said she was echoing recent comments by the central bank Governor Michele Bullock and Deputy Governor Andrew Hauser.

 

Australia's economy expanded 1.3% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2024, accelerating for the first time since September 2023.

 

The GDP growth surpassed the 1.2% rise expected by economists polled by Reuters, as well as the 1.1% climb forecast by the RBA.

 

While stocks were on pace to post another positive session on Monday following their sell-off over the past few weeks, more volatility may be coming down the pike, according to Rob Haworth of U.S. Bank Asset Management.

 

"The surprising thing and the challenge for the market has been the fluctuation of tariffs with our biggest trading partners," the senior investment strategist said. "Volatility is probably in the cards for at least the next couple of weeks and could extend beyond that depending upon what the back-and-forth looks like when it comes to tariffs."

 

The strategist's remarks come as President Trump's temporary tariff exemptions for some goods imported from Canada and Mexico are set to expire on April 2.

 

National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Monday that there will be economic uncertainty around tariffs for another few weeks.

 

"Absolutely, between now and April 2, there'll be some uncertainty," Hassett said on "Squawk Box," referring to the scheduled date for the Trump administration's "reciprocal" tariff plans to be revealed.

 

Hassett did say that there should be "absolute clarity" about the administration's goals once the reciprocal tariffs are worked out.