Asian markets settled mostly higher on Tuesday tracking Wall Street’s gains overnight after reports emerged that US President Donald Trump is narrowing his approach to tariffs set to take effect on April 2nd, likely omitting a set of industry-specific tariffs. Japanese shares gained after the yen weakened versus other major currencies, even as minutes from BoJ's January policy meeting revealed a growing consensus among policymakers that further tightening would be appropriate. However, Hong Kong shares fell as technology shares came under selling pressure following Xiaomi Corp's $5.5 billion share sale. Chinese shares settled flat in negative territory due to concerns over the effectiveness of China's stimulus measures in offsetting new US tariffs. The People's Bank of China (PBoC) said that it would allow qualified banks to pay different interest rates for the loans, known as the medium-term lending facility (MLF), signaling a greater willingness to ease monetary policy.
| Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
| Shanghai Composite | 3,369.98 | -0.05 | 0.00 |
| Hang Seng | 23,344.25 | -561.31 | -2.40 |
| Jakarta Composite | 6,235.62 | 74.40 | 1.19 |
| KLSE Composite | 1,513.60 | 9.78 | 0.65 |
| Nikkei 225 | 37,780.54 | 172.05 | 0.46 |
| Straits Times | 3,954.53 | 18.20 | 0.46 |
| KOSPI Composite | 2,615.81 | -16.26 | -0.62 |
| Taiwan Weighted | 22,273.19 | 166.55 | 0.75 |
