Asia stocks rise tracking Wall St ahead of Trump tariffs; RBA holds rates

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Investing.com-- Asian stocks rebounded on Tuesday tracking overnight gains on Wall Street but investors were cautious ahead of the April 2 U.S. reciprocal tariffs, while the Reserve Bank of Australia kept interest rates unchanged, as expected.

Major U.S. stock indices closed higher on Monday, although futures related to these indices fell in early Asia hours on Tuesday, ahead of impending tariffs.

RBA holds interest rates steady as expected

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) announced it would maintain the official cash rate at 4.10%, a decision widely anticipated by markets.

This move follows a 25 basis point rate cut in February, marking the first reduction since late 2020.

The RBA's decision comes amid a complex economic landscape, with factors such as the ongoing federal election campaign and anticipated U.S. trade tariffs influencing its cautious approach.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.8% before the RBA decision, and was largely unchanged after the expected move.

In other domestic news, data showed that the country’s retail sales for Feb came in slightly lower than forecasts on easing household spending.

Trump set to impose new tariffs on April 2 

Trump has set April 2 as the deadline to impose reciprocal tariffs on a broad range of trading partners, with no exemptions. This initiative, referred to as "Liberation Day," will be followed by a 25% tariff on auto imports starting April 3.

Trump will unveil the new trade tariffs on April 2 at 15:00 ET (19:00 GMT), U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview with Fox News on Monday.

Investors are concerned about the potential for weakened demand from the U.S., the world's largest economy, and the risk of a broader downturn in global growth.

However, most Asian stock indexes jumped on Tuesday after steep losses as Wall Street closed higher overnight.

This rebound was also fueled by investors covering short positions ahead of Trump’s upcoming announcement, while a weak first-quarter performance prompted some dip-buying.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.7% on Thursday, while TOPIX was 0.8% higher.

South Korea’s KOSPI surged 1.9%, leading the gains. Data on Tuesday showed that the county’s exports rose, but came in lower than expected in March.

Indonesia’s Jakarta Stock Exchange Composite Index rose 0.6%, while Thailand's SET Index jumped 1%.

Futures for India’s Nifty 50 were largely unchanged.

China stocks up; Caixin PMI hits 4-mth high

China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.6%, while the Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 index gained 0.3%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jumped 1.3%.

Data on Tuesday showed that Chinese manufacturing activity hit a four-month high in March, driven by rising new orders, private PMI data showed Tuesday.

The Caixin manufacturing PMI rose to 51.2, beating forecasts of 50.6 and February’s 50.8.