Asian Shares Gain As Investors Await Trump Tariffs Ruling

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks advanced on Wednesday, with Fed rate cut expectations and reports of an imminent snap election in Japan helping underpin investor sentiment.

Traders awaited a possible U.S. Supreme Court ruling on President Donald Trump's emergency tariffs, with speculators assigning a 73 percent chance that the apex court will declare Trump's tariffs illegal.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent assured the department has sufficient funds to pay any potential tariff refunds.

Trump said in his Truth Social post earlier this week that the financial exposure would go beyond tariff revenues already collected.

The dollar index consolidated in a tiny range in Asian trade and gold surged more than 1 percent to scale a new record high above $4,635 an ounce while oil edged lower after the biggest four-day advance in more than six months.

Chinese shares gave up early gains to end lower after authorities lifted the minimum margin requirement for financing stock purchases to curb excessive speculation in capital markets. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index ended down 0.31 percent at 4,126.09.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.56 percent to 26,999.81 after China announced record export numbers for 2025.

Japanese markets hit another record high after media reports suggested that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi may call a general election to capitalize on strong public support for her government.

The Nikkei average jumped 1.48 percent to 54,341.23, ending above 54,000 for the first time amid hopes that a bigger majority for Takaichi will help her implement her agenda of more "proactive" fiscal spending.

The broader Topix index settled 1.26 percent higher at 3,644.16. The yen fell to its weakest level in a year-and-a-half and Japan's five-year government bond auction drew the weakest demand since August as investors weighed the possibility of a snap election.

Seoul stocks extended their winning streak to a ninth session as in-line U.S. CPI data reinforced expectations of a Federal Reserve rate pause. The Kospi average rose 0.65 percent to 4,723.10, closing above the 4,700-point mark for the first time, driven by strong gains in tech and auto shares.

Samsung Electronics rallied 2 percent, Hanmi Semiconductor surged 2.7 percent, Hyundai Motor gained 1.4 percent and Kia Corp soared 5.2 percent.

Australian markets edged up slightly as higher commodity prices lifted mining and energy stocks, offsetting losses in the banking sector.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.14 percent to 8,820.60 while the broader All Ordinaries index closed up 0.15 percent at 9,151.80.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index jumped 0.74 percent to 13,757.71, snapping a three-day losing streak.

Overnight, U.S. stocks fluctuated before ending lower as JPMorgan Chase kicked off bank earnings with a mixed quarter and investors grappled with a raft of Donald Trump proposals in the past few days over credit card price controls, defense industry shareholder awards and executive pay, and costs of powering AI data centers.

Markets shrugged off data that showed U.S. consumer prices rose 2.7 per cent year-on-year in December, in line with expectations.

The Dow dipped 0.8 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite eased 0.1 percent and the S&P 500 gave up 0.2 percent.