Investing.com – Asian equities rebounded in afternoon trade on Tuesday after the Nasdaq Composite posted a record close overnight, but investors continued to keep an eye on lingering trade concerns.
Mexico is set to impose a 20% tariff on U.S. imported pork legs as retaliatory measures to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum, Reuters reported on Tuesday citing industry officials.
The news came one week after Trump administration’s decision to impose steel and aluminium tariffs on Mexican exporters.
Meanwhile, the White House confirmed on Monday that Trump would meet his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong Un at 9 a.m. Singapore time on June 12. However, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders noted that the U.S. would continue to economically isolate North Korea.
“Our policy hasn’t changed, and as the president stated, we have sanctions on, they’re very powerful and we would not take those sanctions off unless North Korea denuclearized,” Sanders said.
In Asia, China’s Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component climbed 0.2% and 0.9% by 1:20AM ET (05:20 GMT), while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index also gained 0.2%.
The Caixin/Markit services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) was unchanged in May from April at 52.9, a private survey showed on Tuesday. The data was in line with the official gauge of the non-manufacturing sector released last week.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 edged up 0.2% in afternoon trade. Sharp Corp (T:6753) were down more than 3% after the company said it is considering to acquire Toshiba Corp's personal computer unit for $45.5 million.
Elsewhere, South Korea’s KOSPI fell 0.1%, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.4%. South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix Inc (KS:000660) made headlines after the company said on Tuesday it was being investigated by Chinese regulators.
"We are fully cooperating with the investigation," an SK Hynix spokesman said. He declined to give further details.