Asia-Pacific markets mostly rise after tech rally pushes Wall Street higher

Asia-Pacific markets mostly rose Tuesday after all three key Wall Street benchmarks advanced overnight on a tech rally.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 climbed 0.85% while the broader Topix index advanced 1.05% in its final hour.

In South Korea, the Kospi index added 0.95% while the small-cap Kosdaq moved up 0.41%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 moved up 0.21% to close at 7,764.80.

India’s benchmark Nifty 50 surged 2.11% while the broader BSE Sensex rose 2.06%.

The country is expected to release its inflation figures for March later in the day. Economists polled by Reuters expect India’s consumer price index reading to come in at 3.60%, compared to 3.61% in the month before.

A separate poll indicates that India’s wholesale price index is forecast to come in at 2.5% in March, from 2.38% in February.

Hong Kong‘s Hang Seng Index fell 0.54% in choppy trade while Mainland China’s CSI 300 declined 0.26%.

China is slated to release its first-quarter 2025 GDP figures tomorrow.

Yan Wang Chief Emerging Markets & China Strategist at investment research firm Alpine Macro said the latest figures would be indicative of future policy initiatives that Beijing may unveil.

“We expect fiscal policies will take the lead, including support for infrastructure development, home purchases, and appliance upgrades. Meanwhile, with the weakening of the U.S. dollar, the PBoC (People’s Bank of China) will feel more comfortable cutting interest rates,” Wang wrote in a Monday note.

Wang’s comments come as several investment houses have been downgrading their forecast for China’s growth.

U.S. futures slipped as investors awaited first-quarter earnings reports and weighed U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff plans.

Notices by the U.S. Commerce Department indicated that it would be investigating the impact of “imports of semiconductors and semiconductor manufacturing equipment” as well as “pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical ingredients, including finished drug products,” on national security in the U.S.

Overnight stateside, stocks rose in a choppy session, thanks to a rally in tech names spurred by a surprise tariff exemption from Trump.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 312.08 points, or 0.78%, to close at 40,524.79. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.64% to end at 16,831.48, while the S&P 500 added 0.79% and settled at 5,405.97.

— CNBC’s Lisa Kailan Han, Alex Harring and Sean Conlon contributed to this report.