Asian shares trade mostly higher after stocks on Wall Street extend losses
Among Japanese companies, automakers Honda Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. will report fiscal first quarter results this week, as will electronics and entertainment company Sony Corp. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.6% to finish at 40,794.86. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.8% to 8,843.70. South Korea's Kospi was little changed, gaining less than 0.1% to 3,198.14.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.2% to 24,958.75, while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.8% to 3,633.99. U.S. futures were up 0.5%. On Tuesday, the S&P 500 fell 0.5% to 6,299.19, coming off a whipsaw stretch where it went from its worst day since May to its best since May. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.1% to 44,111.74, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.7% to 20,916.55.
A weaker-than-expected report on activity for US businesses in services industries like transportation and retail added to worries that Trump's tariffs may be hurting the economy. But conversely such indicators raise hopes the Federal Reserve may cut interest rates. That along with a stream of stronger-than-expected profit reports from US companies helped to keep losses in check.
The S&P 500 remains within 1.4% of its record. The pressure is on companies to report bigger profits after the US stock market surged to record after record from a low point in April. The big rally fueled criticism that the broad market had become too expensive. For stock prices to look like better bargains, companies could produce bigger profits, or interest rates could fall. The latter may happen in September, when the Fed has its next policy meeting.
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Kuwait Times
43 minutes ago
- Kuwait Times
India faces tough choices under US tariff pressure
NEW DELHI: India faces an ultimatum from the United States with major political and economic ramifications both at home and abroad: end purchases of Russian oil or face painful tariffs. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, leader of the world's most populous nation and its fifth-biggest economy, must make some difficult decisions. US President Donald Trump has given longstanding ally India, one of the world's largest crude oil importers, three weeks to find alternative suppliers. Levies of 25 percent already in place will double to 50 percent if India doesn't strike a deal. For Trump, the August 27 deadline is a bid to strip Moscow of a key source of revenue for its military offensive in Ukraine. 'It is a geopolitical ambush with a 21-day fuse,' said Syed Akbaruddin, a former Indian diplomat to the United Nations, writing in the Times of India newspaper. New Delhi called Washington's move 'unfair, unjustified and unreasonable'. Modi has appeared defiant. He has not spoken directly about Trump but said on Thursday 'India will never compromise' on the interests of its farmers. Agriculture employs vast numbers of people in India and has been a key sticking point in trade negotiations. It all seems a far cry from India's early hopes for special tariff treatment after Trump said in February he had found a 'special bond' with Modi. 'The resilience of US-India relations... is now being tested more than at any other time over the last 20 years,' said Michael Kugelman, from the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. Russia accounted for nearly 36 percent of India's total crude oil imports in 2024, snapping up approximately 1.8 million barrels of cut-price Russian crude per day. Buying Russian oil saved India billions of dollars on import costs, keeping domestic fuel prices relatively stable. Switching suppliers will likely threaten price rises, but not doing so will hit India's exports. The Federation of Indian Export Organizations warned that the cost of additional US tariffs risked making many businesses 'not viable'. Urjit Patel, a former central bank governor, said Trump's threats were India's 'worst fears'. Without a deal, 'a needless trade war' would likely ensue and 'welfare loss is certain', he said in a post on social media. Modi has sought to bolster ties with other allies. That includes calling Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who said they had agreed on the need 'to defend multilateralism'. Ashok Malik, of business consultancy The Asia Group, told AFP: 'There is a signal there, no question.' India's national security adviser Ajit Doval met with Vladimir Putin in Moscow, saying the dates of a visit to India by the Russian president were 'almost finalized'. Modi, according to Indian media, might also visit China in late August. It would be Modi's first visit since 2018, although it has not been confirmed officially. Beijing's foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said in response to an AFP question on Friday that 'China welcomes Prime Minister Modi' for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit. India and neighboring China have long competed for strategic influence across South Asia. Successive US administrations have seen India as a key partner with like-minded interests when it comes to China. 'All those investments, all that painstaking work done by many US presidents and Indian prime ministers, is being put at risk,' Malik said. 'I have not seen the relationship so troubled since the early 1990s, to be honest. I'm not saying it's all over, not in the least, but it is at risk.' Modi faces a potential domestic backlash if he is seen to bow to Washington. 'India must stand firm, put its national interest first,' the Indian Express newspaper wrote in an editorial. Opposition politicians are watching keenly. Mallikarjun Kharge, president of the key opposition Congress party, warned the government was 'disastrously dithering'. He also pointed to India's longstanding policy of 'non-alignment'. 'Any nation that arbitrarily penalizes India for our time-tested policy of strategic autonomy... doesn't understand the steel frame India is made of,' Kharge said in a statement. However, retired diplomat Akbaruddin said there is still hope. New Delhi can be 'smartly flexible', Akbaruddin said, suggesting that could mean 'buying more US oil if it's priced competitively, or engaging Russia on the ceasefire issue'. — AFP
Kuwait Times
3 hours ago
- Kuwait Times
Chinese media says Nvidia H20 chips not safe for China
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Kuwait Times
5 hours ago
- Kuwait Times
Buffeted by Trump and vote-rigging charges, Modi starts to push back
India PM poised to meet Xi, Putin soon in bid to realign relations NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is navigating one of the most challenging stretches of his 11 years in office. A contentious ceasefire with archenemy Pakistan, renewed scrutiny over his age and a diplomatic chill with the United States despite much-publicized rapport with President Donald Trump have converged to test his leadership like never before. While he needs to deal with these headwinds, Modi also has to answer opposition charges of vote-rigging in the 2024 general election. The challenges are coming to a head just before a difficult electoral battle in Bihar, one of India's most politically significant states. A defeat in the vote to the state assembly would not affect Modi's position in the national parliament, but it would be a hammer blow to the reputation of a leader who has maintained a vice-like grip on power since he was elected prime minister over a decade ago. This week, Trump's administration announced a total 50 percent tariff on imports from India, among the highest of any country in the world, throwing the bilateral relationship into deep disarray. Yet, until just six months ago, Trump and Modi were exchanging bear hugs and describing each other as close friends. 'The Indo-US relation sort of revolved around the personalities of Donald Trump and Narendra Modi,' New Delhi-based political commentator Arati Jerath said. 'So now when it's souring, Modi has no buffer at all. There is a fair amount of disappointment that this strong leader has not been able to show the kind of strength and muscularity that he claimed to have.' Modi, however, has begun to push back. He said the country was ready to stand by its farmers at any cost, without referring to the tussle with the US on opening up the agricultural and dairy sectors to lower Trump's tariffs. 'India will never compromise on the interests of its farmers, livestock rearers and fishermen,' he said at a public event. 'And I am fully aware that I may have to pay a very heavy price personally, but I am prepared for it.' In a social media graphic posted by his party, Modi is shown taking blows on his back from stones, bricks and a dagger depicted as tariffs, while shielding a farmer with a plough on his shoulder. Analysts say Modi's comments indicate that the tariff battle with the US would be front and centre of the campaign in Bihar that is likely to kick off next month. According to a recent survey by the VoteVibe agency, Modi's National Democratic Alliance will struggle to retain power in the state, largely because of a lack of jobs. However, VoteVibe founder Amitabh Tiwari said any nationalist backlash against Trump is unlikely to sway voters in what he calls a 'hyper-local election' in the economically backward state. 'There is no over-arching theme other than unemployment,' Tiwari said. In other signs of pushback against Trump, Modi is planning to visit China in coming weeks and is likely to meet President Xi Jinping as well as Russia's Vladimir Putin, suggesting a potential realignment in relations. Modi also spoke with Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Thursday to discuss the tariffs. The two countries, founding members of the BRICS bloc that Trump has criticized, are the two most affected by the US levies. Russia, China and South Africa are the other founding members. Modi remains the world's most popular head of government, with an approval rating exceeding 75 percent, according to data intelligence firm Morning Consult. Yet, even his core Hindu nationalist base was unsettled by a surprise ceasefire with Pakistan in May, following the most intense military confrontation between the two old enemies in decades. The ceasefire sparked controversy at home and abroad. Modi's government has repeatedly denied Trump's claims that he leveraged trade negotiations to broker the truce. Trump has since notably strengthened ties with Pakistan, which publicly thanked him for his role in ending the conflict, further complicating India's diplomatic narrative. At home, the main opposition Congress party has presented what it says is proof of Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Election Commission 'rigging and stealing' the 2024 general election by adding fake people to voter lists. 'There is a huge criminal fraud being perpetrated on this country by the Election Commission and the party in power', Congress leader Rahul Gandhi told a press conference on Thursday. The Election Commission asked Gandhi to 'stop arriving at absurd conclusions and misleading the citizens of India'. As Modi approaches his 75th birthday next month, his age has also become a topic of discussion, since other BJP leaders were sidelined after they passed the milestone. The BJP however maintains that there is no formal retirement age for its leaders. All in all, analysts said, Modi faces an onerous task. 'Mr Modi's brand value is now diminishing very fast, he needs to reinvent himself,' said Rasheed Kidwai, visiting fellow at the Observer Research Foundation think tank in New Delhi. 'The sheen will come off particularly if he loses the Bihar election. Because in India, elections determine everything.' – Reuters
