Japan’s Osaka is the 43rd most expensive city to live in, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit.
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Asia-Pacific stocks traded mixed Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump proposed tariffs “in the neighborhood of 25%” on autos, semiconductors and pharmaceutical imports.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 ended the day 0.27% lower at 39,164.61, while the broader Topix index was fell 0.3% to 2,767.25. The country had reported a two-year high trade deficit.
Business sentiment for Japanese manufacturers rose for the second month in February, results from the Reuters Tankan poll indicates. The manufacturers’ sentiment index rose to plus 3 — its highest level since November — from plus 2 in January.
In South Korea, the Kospi ended 1.7% higher at 2,671.52, while the small-cap Kosdaq advanced 0.6% to close at 778.27.
Mainland China’s CSI 300 ended the day 0.7% higher at 3,940.16, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ended the day 0.14% lower at 22,944.44.
Indian stocks snapped their losing streak with the benchmark Nifty 50 and the BSE Sensex index trading flat in the last 1.5 hours of trade.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.73% to close at 8,419.20, a day after the country’s central bank cut rates by 25 basis points to 4.10%, marking its first easing since November 2020.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand cut rates by 50 basis points to 3.75% in its policy meeting, in line with Reuters’ estimates. The marks the central bank’s fourth straight cut and comes as its economy slows.
The New Zealand dollar weakened 0.51% to 0.5728 against the U.S. dollar.
Overnight in the U.S., all three indexes rose, with the S&P 500 closing at a record high after stocks rallied seconds before the closing bell. The broad market index gained 0.24% to a record close of 6,129.58, after touching an intraday record of 6,129.63 before the final bell. The Nasdaq Composite closed up 0.07% at 20,041.26, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 10 points, or 0.02%, to finish the session at 44,556.34.
The energy sector was the best-performer in the S&P 500, rising 1.9%, while tech stocks also ticked up.
— CNBC’s Brian Evans and Sarah Min contributed to this report.
