Most Asian stocks rose on Wednesday, extending recent gains amid cooling concerns over the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s planned trade tariffs, while regional tech stocks tracked gains in their U.S. peers.

Australian shares were the best performers for the day after softer-than-expected inflation data furthered bets on more interest rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Hong Kong stocks recovered from Tuesday’s losses, while Japanese shares trimmed early gains after Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda warned that the central bank will raise rates further. 

Asian markets took some positive cues from Wall Street, which closed marginally higher on Tuesday on strength in major tech stocks. But uncertainty over Trump’s tariffs and weak consumer confidence data limited broader gains.

U.S. stock index futures rose marginally in Asian trade after Trump said in a Newsmax interview that he will probably be more lenient than reciprocal with his April 2 tariffs, but that he also did not want too many exceptions from his tariffs. 

Earlier reports suggesting that Trump’s upcoming tariffs will be less severe than expected helped buoy Asian markets this week, although investors still remained uncertain over just what their scope and impact will be. 

Australia stocks surge as CPI inflation cools 

Australia’s ASX 200 rose 0.7% after consumer price index inflation data read slightly below expectations for February, while underlying inflation also eased.

The inflation data came just a week after softer labor data, with both prints driving up some bets that the RBA will have enough headroom to cut interest rates further.

The central bank meets next week after cutting rates for the first time in nearly five years in Feb. 

The RBA had signaled a largely data-driven approach to further easing, with sticky inflation and a tight labor market being its two biggest considerations. Analysts at Capital Economics said the central bank will likely leave rates unchanged when it meets next week, but the softer inflation primes it to cut rates at least two more times this year. 

Hong Kong recovers, Japan trims gains on Ueda comments 

Broader Asian markets were largely upbeat, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rising 0.6%, recovering a measure of recent losses as the index was slapped with profit-taking at three-year highs. Tech stocks also rose tracking their U.S. peers. 

Focus remained squarely on more cues on China’s artificial intelligence capabilities, as well as Beijing’s plans for more stimulus. The mainland Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite indexes fell slightly amid fears of more U.S. trade measures against Beijing. 

Japan’s Nikkei 225 and TOPIX indexes rose 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively, trading well below intraday highs. The two trimmed early gains after the BOJ’s Ueda warned that the central bank will keep raising interest rates if the economy remains on track. 

Japanese corporate services price index data- a gauge of producer inflation- read mildly cooler than expected for Feb, but remained sticky at 3%, data showed on Wednesday.

Among other Asian markets, South Korea’s KOSPI rose 0.6% on strength in local chipmaking stocks, which tracked gains in their U.S. peers. 

Singapore’s Straits Times index rose 0.3% after notching a record high on Monday. Futures for India’s Nifty 50 index pointed to a slightly positive open, as a recent rebound in the index cooled.