Asian stocks edged up after the S&P 500 index advanced for a sixth day on optimism that companies will be able to weather slowing economic growth and tariff-fueled disruptions.

Australian and Japanese shares climbed at the open and equity-index futures for Hong Kong pointed to a moderate gain. US stock futures edged lower after Super Micro Computer Inc. tumbled in late trading on a disappointing update. Treasuries extended this month’s advance, with 10-year yields falling for a seventh day. The dollar was little changed after strengthening on Tuesday. Gold rose and oil dropped.

The stock rally faces a key test Wednesday when the US releases inflation and gross-domestic-product data, which will give investors a clue on how the economy fared just before President Donald Trump announced country-specific levies on April 2. In recent weeks, investors have taken comfort from some recent tariff reprieves and increased bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates to prevent a recession.

“Many are still calling for a recession and even lower equity levels, but we think the ‘Trump put’ is real for equities while the ‘Fed put’ is real for the economy,” said Andrew Brenner at NatAlliance Securities. “And while tops and bottoms are hard to recognize as they are happening, we think the worst is behind us.”

In the latest pivot in Trump’s trade strategy, the president signed an executive order easing the impact of his auto tariffs, preventing duties on foreign-made vehicles from stacking on top of other levies and lessening charges on parts from overseas used to make vehicles in the US.

Trump also renewed criticism of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell as he championed his economic policies and tariff regime during an event on Tuesday to mark his 100th day in office. Trump said China deserved the steep tariffs he imposed on their exports and predicted Beijing could find a way to reduce their impact on American consumers.

In Asian earnings, Samsung Electronics Co.’s chip division reported better-than-expected profit after Chinese customers rushed to stockpile supplies ahead of US tariffs.

Four of the so-called Magnificent Seven – Microsoft Corp., Apple Inc., Meta Platforms Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. – are also due to report earnings this week. Analysts expect the group — which also includes Google-parent Alphabet, Tesla Inc. and Nvidia Corp. — to deliver an average of 15% profit growth in 2025, a forecast that’s barely budged since the start of March despite the flareup in trade tensions.

Still, not all companies are having a smooth sailing.

General Motors Co. and JetBlue Airways Corp. pulled their outlooks. United Parcel Service Inc. said it expects to cut 20,000 jobs this year.

After the closing bell, Starbucks Corp. reported sales that fell slightly faster than expected. Visa Inc.’s earnings beat estimates. Snap Inc. declined to issue a sales forecast for the current period, saying it’s navigating macroeconomic “headwinds” for its advertising business. Super Micro Computer Inc.’s preliminary results fell short of analysts’ projections.

“Looking ahead, we believe the worst-case scenarios for policy change may be in,” said Lauren Goodwin at New York Life Investments. “But since uncertainty is still high in market-critical areas like business cost and revenue, and since valuations have already improved from recent market bottoms, market volatility is likely to persist.”

At HSBC Holdings Plc, a group of strategists cut their year-end S&P 500 target to 5,600 from 6,700, saying tariffs and weaker-than-expected US economic growth will pressure corporate earnings. 

“We expect the market narrative will flip-flop between recession and stagflation until tariff turmoil subsides, the Fed starts easing, and/or inflationary pressures fail to build up,” strategists including Nicole Inui wrote in a note to clients.

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

  • S&P 500 futures fell 0.3% as of 9:40 a.m. Tokyo time

  • Hang Seng futures were unchanged

  • Japan’s Topix rose 0.3%

  • Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.3%

  • Euro Stoxx 50 futures were little changed

Currencies

  • The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed

  • The euro was little changed at $1.1389

  • The Japanese yen was little changed at 142.30 per dollar

  • The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.2656 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies

  • Bitcoin fell 0.2% to $94,646.46

  • Ether was little changed at $1,810.1

Bonds

  • The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 4.16%

  • Australia’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 4.18%

Commodities

  • West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.2% to $60.31 a barrel

  • Spot gold was little changed

. Read more on Markets by NDTV Profit.Australian and Japanese shares climbed at the open and equity-index futures for Hong Kong pointed to a moderate gain.  Read MoreMarkets, Business, Bloomberg 

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