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View of the Skytree from Ueno and Asakusa in Tokyo
Jackal Pan | Moment | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets were set to climb Wednesday, after Wall Street benchmarks mostly rose on easing U.S.-China trade tensions.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 is set to open higher, with the futures contract in Chicago at 38,365 while its counterpart in Osaka last traded at 38,300, against the index's last close of 38,183.26.
Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is set to rise, with futures standing at 8,310, slightly higher than the index's close of 8,269.
Futures for Hong Kong's Hang Seng index stood at 23,288, higher than its last close of 23,108.27.
Wall Street rebounded after the U.S. and China reached a temporary truce on tariffs earlier this week. The development led to stocks surging with the Dow gaining more than 1,000 points Monday.
At current levels, however, Julius Baer strategists remain cautious, adding that the bank "does not share the prevailing optimism" regarding a quick resolution of the trade conflict.
"Even if new deals are announced, they are likely to involve complex conditions and protracted implementation timelines, making a full rollback of tariffs to pre-conflict levels unlikely," the bank said in a Tuesday note.
Investors will be keeping an eye on Asian chip stocks after shares of Nvidia jumped following CEO Jensen Huang's remarks that the company will sell more than 18,000 of its latest artificial intelligence chips to Saudi firm Humain, a new AI startup owned by the country's Public Investment Fund.
U.S. stock futures were little changed as Wall Street looks to extend a strong start to the week. Futures tied to the S&P 500 were flat, as were Nasdaq 100 futures. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 30 points, or less than 0.1%.
Overnight stateside, the three major averages closed mixed. The S&P 500 rose, clawing back into positive territory for the year as investors extended the sharp gains seen in the previous session. The broad market index gained 0.72% to close at 5,886.55, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.61% to end at 19,010.08.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged, losing 269.67 points, or 0.64%, as a nearly 18% drop in shares of UnitedHealth pressured the benchmark.
— CNBC's Brian Evans and Yun Li contributed to this report.
S&P 500 closes higher, turns positive for the year
Continuing investor optimism toward cooling trade tensions between the U.S. and China helped push the S&P 500 into the green for the year.
The broad market index advanced 0.72% to close at 5,886.55. The S&P 500 now has a gain of 0.08% in 2025.
The Nasdaq Composite gained 1.61% to finish the session at 19,010.08, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 269.67 points, or 0.64%, to 42,140.43.
— Brian Evans
Nvidia shares rally, putting stock on track to reenter the exclusive $3 trillion club
Nvidia shares jumped more than 6% on Tuesday after CEO Jensen Huang said the company will sell more than 18,000 of its latest artificial intelligence chips to Saudi Arabian firm Humain.
Huang's announcement was made as part of a White House-led trip to the region that included President Donald Trump and other tech CEOs. Nvidia said its first deployment will use its GB300 Blackwell chips, some of its most advanced chips that were officially announced earlier this year. The chips will be used in a 500 megawatt data center in Saudi Arabia.
Nvidia's recent surge has put the stock on track to close above a $3 trillion market cap for the first time since Feb. 28. The company has overtaken Apple to be the world's second-most-valuable name, just behind Microsoft.
Nvidia shares have gained more than 20% this month. Still, the stock is in the red for the year and remains about 14% below its year high.
— Pia Singh
English (US)