US futures edge higher and gold hits another record
HONG KONG– Asian stocks were mixed on Wednesday and gold prices hit a record high as concerns over U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats on Greenland fueled investor unease.
US futures rose after sharp losses on Wall Street on Tuesday. The future of the S&The P 500 rose 0.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%.
Gold prices crossed the $4,800 mark for the first time, gaining 1.7% as money flowed into assets seen as safe havens in times of uncertainty.
Traders were awaiting Trump’s planned speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, attended by world leaders, elites and billionaires. Trump told reporters he planned to highlight his administration’s accomplishments during his speech.
Trump’s Air Force One returned to Washington after its crew identified “a minor electrical problem” while en route to Davos. He then boarded another plane and resumed his journey.
In Asian trading, Chinese stocks rose on Wednesday despite losses in global markets earlier. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.4% to 26,584.57. The Shanghai Composite index edged up 0.1% to 4,116.94.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.4% to 52,774.64. Japanese markets have been shaken by both geopolitical uncertainty and domestic problems.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called a snap election on February 8, sending yields on long-term government bonds to record highs. The assumption is that Takaichi, who is capitalizing on strong public support to try to consolidate a majority for his Liberal Democratic Party, will cut taxes and increase spending, adding to the challenges Japan faces in managing its huge public debt.
The yield on 40-year Japanese government bonds was trading at 4.095% early Wednesday, down from an all-time high of 4.22% hit Tuesday.
South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.5% to 4,909.93 after hitting new record highs this month.
In Australia, the S&The P/ASX 200 fell 0.4% to 8,782.90.
Taiwan’s Taiex fell 1.6% and India’s Sensex edged down less than 0.1%.
Trump announced he would impose 10% tariffs on Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland starting in February. That would be on top of 15% tariffs specified by a trade deal with the European Union that has yet to be ratified.
European leaders have fought back as Washington’s relations with its Western allies deteriorate, considering countermeasures including possibly a slow ratification of the trade deal or the imposition of retaliatory tariffs, analysts say.
The American president had linked his position on Greenland to the fact that he had not received the Nobel Peace Prize last year, since he had told the Norwegian Prime Minister that he no longer felt “obligated to think only about peace”.
Tuesday, the S&The P 500 fell 2.1% to 6,796.86, the benchmark index’s biggest drop since October.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.8% to 48,488.59. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 2.4% to 22,954.32.
Nvidia, one of the world’s most valuable companies, fell 4.4%. Apple fell 3.5%. Retailers, banks and industrial companies also suffered heavy losses. Lowe’s fell 3.3%, JPMorgan Chase fell 3.1% and Caterpillar fell 2.5%.
The Federal Reserve is scheduled to meet next week for its policy meeting, and Wall Street is betting it will keep its benchmark interest rate steady. The Japanese central bank will close its first monetary policy meeting on Friday.
In other trading Wednesday morning, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 56 cents to $59.80 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 70 cents to $64.22 a barrel.
The U.S. dollar fell to 158.08 Japanese yen from 158.16 yen. The euro was almost unchanged at $1.1719.
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AP Business Editor Damian J. Troise contributed.
