Investing.com – Asian equities were mixed in morning trade on Wednesday. Trade tensions continued after the U.S. proposed imposing 25% tariffs on about $50 billion worth of products that are made in China, focusing on high-tech items.
Overnight, the three major U.S. stock indexes ended higher after a choppy session, with the S&P 500 gained 1.3% while the Dow and the Nasdaq jumped 1.7% and 1.0% respectively.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares gained 6% after the electric automaker said it does not need to raise more capital this year and announced better-than-expected production numbers for its Model 3 sedans. Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) also rebounded as investors bet that criticism from President Donald Trump would not translate to policy changes.
In China, the Shanghai Composite gained 0.4% while the Shenzhen Component remained flat. Reports that the the U.S. proposed to impose $50 billion tariffs on some 1,300 industrial technology, transport and medical products that are made in China took center stage.
“This level is appropriate both in light of the estimated harm to the U.S. economy, and to obtain elimination of China’s harmful acts, policies, and practices,” the U.S. Trade Representative’s office said in a report on Tuesday.
In response, the Chinese embassy in Washington said “it is only polite to reciprocate." “The Chinese side will resort to the WTO dispute settlement mechanism and take corresponding measures of equal scale and strength against U.S. products in accordance with Chinese law," the embassy said in a statement. It was reported on Tuesday that China imposed retaliatory tariffs on 128 U.S. products including pork and fruit.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 traded 0.4% higher. The Markit/Nikkei Japan Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) fell to 50.9 in March on a seasonally adjusted basis from 51.7 in February, indicating that activity in Japan’s service sector grew at the slowest pace in 17 months. Meanwhile, Honda Motor (T:7267)’s U.S. vehicles sales beat estimates but Toyota Motor (T:7203) and Nissan Motor (T:7201) both missed. Sony Corp (T:6758)’s shares jumped 2% after the company said it sold 17.2% stake in the U.S. listed Spotify (NYSE:SPOT).
Down under, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.2%. The country’s building approvals and retail sales in March are due later in the day.