Global benchmarks mostly rise ahead of US wholesale price report

The futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 futures fell 0.2%.

In Asian trading, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 surged 1.5% to finish at 54,341.23 as expectations grew that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi may call general elections soon.

Takaichi met Tuesday with her South Korean counterpart, President Lee Jae Myung and they committed to working together on economic and security issues. South Korea's Kospi rose 0.7% to 4,723.10.

Chinese markets rallied but then fell back. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.6% to 26,999.81, while the Shanghai Composite shed 0.3% to 4,126.09.

China's trade surplus surged 20% in 2025 from a year earlier to a record $1.2 trillion, despite U.S. President Donald Trump's onslaught of higher tariffs on imports.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.1% to 8,820.60, while Taiwan's Taiex jumped 0.8%. In India, the Sensex lost 0.5%.

President Donald Trump announced he would impose a 25% tax on imports to the United States from countries that do business with Iran as the death toll from the latest protests there exceeded 2,500 as of Wednesday, according to activists.

A highly anticipated update on inflation came in close to economists’ expectations, strengthening expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut its main interest rate at least twice in 2026 to shore up the job market. Later Wednesday, the government is due to report on inflation at the wholesale level.

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 fell 0.2% from its all-time high a day earlier. The Dow dropped 0.8% from its own record, while the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.1%.

In other dealings early Wednesday, benchmark U.S. crude gave up 57 cents to $60.87 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 58 cents to $64.89 a barrel.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar inched down to 158.78 yen from 159.13 yen. The euro rose to $1.1649 from $1.1645.

Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama