Asian markets settled mostly higher on Wednesday as strong momentum in technology shares outweighed worries about hotter-than-expected US inflation data and Middle East tensions. Meanwhile, traders shifted focus on the high-stakes trade talks between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Japan’s Nikkei surpassed the 63,000 marks for the first time after US Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent praised Japan's economic resilience and touted coordination with Japan on tackling excessively volatile currency moves. South Korean shares hit an all-time high amid an AI-led chipmaker rally. However, Samsung Electronics and its largest labor union failed to reach a pay deal following government-mediated talks, raising the risk of an 18-day strike beginning May 21 that could disrupt production of memory and other chips.
| Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
| Shanghai Composite | 4,242.57 | 28.08 | 0.67 |
| Hang Seng | 26,388.44 | 40.53 | 0.15 |
| Jakarta Composite | 6,723.32 | -135.58 | -2.02 |
| KLSE Composite | 1,746.31 | -4.25 | -0.24 |
| Nikkei 225 | 63,272.11 | 529.54 | 0.84 |
| Straits Times | 5,003.96 | 57.96 | 1.17 |
| KOSPI Composite | 7,844.01 | 200.86 | 2.63 |
| Taiwan Weighted | 41,374.50 | -523.82 | -1.25 |
