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Asia-Pacific markets set to rise as investors await further stimulus from China

Asia-Pacific markets set to rise as investors await further stimulus from China

CNBC27-04-2025

Sunset view of Yarra river and Melbourne skyscrapers business office building with evening skyline in Victoria, Australia. Australia tourism, modern city life, or business finance and economy concept
Prasit Photo | Moment | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets are set to open higher Monday as investors await further stimulus measures from China as well as developments in trade negotiations between the U.S. and countries in the region.
Over the weekend, China's finance minister Lan Fo'an said that the Asian powerhouse will "adopt more proactive macroeconomic policies to promote the realization of the expected growth target for the whole year and continue to bring stability and momentum to the global economy," according to a Google translation of a statement posted on the ministry's website.
Chinese authorities, including the People's Bank of China, are slated to hold a press conference later in the day.
Investors are also keeping tabs on developments in trade negotiations between the U.S. and countries in the region, after U.S. President Donald Trump indicated that another pause to his "reciprocal tariffs" was unlikely, according to Bloomberg reports.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 was set to open higher, with the futures contract in Chicago at 36,040 while its counterpart in Osaka last traded at 36,030, against the index's Friday close of 35,705.74.
Futures for Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index stood at 22,055, pointing to a stronger open compared to the HSI's last close of 21,980.74.
Meanwhile, futures tied to Australia's S&P/ASX 200 were last seen at 8,078, higher than the index's last close of 7,968.20.
— CNBC's Lisa Kailai Han and Sean Conlon contributed to this report.

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Small American Business Owners Are Sharing How Tariffs Are Affecting Them
Small American Business Owners Are Sharing How Tariffs Are Affecting Them

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Small American Business Owners Are Sharing How Tariffs Are Affecting Them

When tariffs on Chinese goods spiked dramatically — peaking at over 100% in some cases before recent reductions — small business owners across America found themselves facing an impossible math problem. From toy designers to computer repair shops, countless entrepreneurs discovered that products they depend on — and that simply aren't made anywhere else — suddenly became prohibitively expensive. When u/toymakerinchina, a manufacturer of indoor playground equipment, asked how US small businesses were handling these dramatic tariff increases, the responses painted a sobering picture of an economy under strain: "Honestly, they're not able to cope. I know two people in separate small businesses in this situation who were running the numbers at 104% yesterday. They're already in a place with not-high margins. They also have to get their product out to distributors and on to end consumers, and there is a markup at each step. They're trying to increase direct-to-consumer sales to get a bit more efficient, but that's really hard. It's more likely they'll go bankrupt unless things get fixed fast. There aren't any American alternatives for the imported supply, and there won't be in the future. They're doomed to fail." "I have a computer repair shop. Literally everything computer-related is made in China, with few exceptions — Taiwan and Mexico, sometimes. New computers are about to get real expensive. This will either surge my business, in which case we'll just lower our margin on parts and maintain labor cost, or people are going to pay out the nose for new computers." "I've just had to place an order for $80,000 worth of equipment to be produced. Specialized gear only made in China. The budget was around $110,000 total. Now maybe $150,000. It will hurt if this level — or worse — is in place when it's ready to be shipped. It will take about three months to fabricate it all. I don't know if I have any way to mitigate this." "Our selling prices are going way up. Our sales volume will suffer because our poorest customers won't be able to afford our product. It's an item for people with disabilities. It's sad." "My sister designs plush toys and runs her own business. She's a small operation, but it's been her full-time gig for almost 10 years. On average, her orders are around 2,000 to 5,000 toys at a time. Her latest order was flat-out cancelled by the supplier. She's completely screwed. There simply isn't a viable alternative company that isn't based in China." "The previous steel and aluminum tariffs from the pandemic were rough. This is on another level. I don't think most people understand how screwed we are. Currently, my suppliers are trying to raise prices slowly. They're playing chicken with each other. They know they can't raise everything overnight, as they're also competing with other suppliers, and they still need to move product in order to maintain cash flow. I've been hoarding lots of inventory in preparation, but how long will it take to move that product if the economy is slow due to overall inflation? Our costs are just one aspect of being in business. If our customers are squeezed from every direction by tariffs on everything, then they don't have cash to purchase things from us. Then toss in some idiotic DOGE nonsense, where you eliminate millions of people from viable employment." "I'm about to close shop after doing it as my exclusive job for 10 years. It's screwed." "I have a $48,000 order that I placed two days ago just before the latest China tariff increase. Haven't paid the deposit yet, and now reassessing the move. Considering 1) reducing the order size just to not have such a large bill come due in two to three months and start seeking other suppliers in lower-tariffed countries or the US — although I would expect that even if we found a US manufacturer, the price would work out to be the same if not higher; 2) keep the order, but start adding a tariff fee to invoices now; 3) do nothing and hope the jerk in charge changes this move before the goods hit customs. We've already negotiated a lower price with our supplier, so not much else to be done there. We just raised our prices for the first time in three years to finally pass along some of the cost increases we've incurred in that time. It looked like we'd finally improve our margins over where they've been the last few years. And now this." "My family runs a restaurant. If our prices for takeout containers and other small disposables skyrocket, we're going to put some behind a price instead of giving them out for free. Currently, a large takeout foam container is 20 cents. If it hits 40 cents or more, we will tack on a 25-to-50-cent fee depending on just how high it actually goes. Please, everyone, understand that a small mom-and-pop style restaurant only runs 3% to 6% pure profit if that — right now, we are at about 4%." "My partner had a bunch of inventory on hand pre-tariff so he's just selling that and not ordering anything for now. And he raised prices because he can. He's pointing out that price increases are due to tariffs to educate his red-leaning customers on what they voted for." "Our wholesale will probably shut down after the last of our inventory is sold. It was a good run of 10 years but the Chinese tariffs will make continuing business impossible." "I am a small business owner — I create medieval and costume artistic wigs from wig bases made in China. I will pass the tariff on to the customer as I have no other choice. The US will never make what I need, and other countries making wigs don't come even close to the quality of wigs that China makes, not to mention the trust I have with my years-long suppliers and whatnot. I have no solution because I feel like even if we find loopholes, they can be 'plugged' overnight by the Trump administration. I wish I could include the sum of what my customer pays on tariffs in my pricing separately. That's not going to happen, I know. I will have way fewer customers, lose competitiveness on international markets, and will have to start a second business on the side. I see all this as very pessimistic and feel sorry for all of us affected in the US as well as China." "We're exhausted. We're exhausted from running the numbers, coming up with a barely workable solution, only to have the goal posts moved and that solution obliterated again and again and again. My entire industry is imploding. Yesterday, my company laid off the entire team except for the founder, who is still trying to pivot and find yet another workable solution in hopes he can bring us all back before we find other, more permanent placements." "I have a couple retail stores, and I've received calls from multiple wholesale companies saying many items will get 20% to 50% price increases. This was before China's retaliatory tariff increase. I just won't stock any items that have increased by 50%, other than extreme cases. Any items that I continue to stock will get price increases slower than how much they got increased by tariffs. It's so that customers won't notice the sudden sharp increase in price and leave my business with a sour taste. I will eventually increase it to match the same profit margin in the end, but I will do it slowly, even if it eats away my profit in the short term, to stay competitive. If this tariff war continues, I would assume many retail stores in my industry, maybe even I, won't be able to stay afloat and will go out of business. My hope is that I can outlast the competition while this tariff craze is going on. I just hope I don't have to let go of my employees." "The tariffs pose a huge threat to my business. I have an art business in the US, and I print my artwork on various art and stationery products. All of my stationery is manufactured in either Canada or China. I also print on various specialty papers that are only manufactured outside of the US. I have done some preparation by buying a year's worth of supplies to continue printing some of my own products, but I will have to discontinue many of my items for the foreseeable future. I am a small business and can't afford to buy products at such high markups. If these tariffs last long, I will be forced to close my business. I am already preparing by looking for a part-time job to supplement the loss of income this will be for me. Plus, my customer base is not wealthy people. Even if I had the savings to afford 104% tariffs, my customers would not." "Many of my materials are imported because US manufacturers charge almost 90% more for a similar sheet of material. So now my competitors and I will have to pay more for the product. Then we will mark it up the same percentage. $50 with a 100% markup meant I sold it for $100, and the company earned $50. Now it's $75 per sheet, and I mark it up to $150, and the company makes $75. We're more profitable. Sure, we may lose a few sales here or there because people can no longer afford to buy a sign for their business or housing development, but during COVID when scarcity drove prices up, we never ended up in a worse position, so I doubt we will here since people need our products, just as I'm sure people need your products." Are you a small business owner dealing with the impact of tariffs, or do you have thoughts on how these policies are affecting the economy? Whether you've witnessed these challenges firsthand, have ideas for solutions, or simply want to share your perspective on what this means for American businesses, drop your thoughts in the comments — or anonymous form — below. Note: Responses have been edited for length/clarity.

Bulls load up on Asian currencies as trade uncertainty knocks dollar: Reuters poll
Bulls load up on Asian currencies as trade uncertainty knocks dollar: Reuters poll

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time33 minutes ago

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Bulls load up on Asian currencies as trade uncertainty knocks dollar: Reuters poll

By John Biju (Reuters) -Bullish bets firmed up on most Asian currencies as the lack of clarity on a U.S.-China trade agreement kept the dollar on the back foot, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday. Long positions in the Taiwan dollar touched their highest since December 2020, while bullish bets on the South Korean won were the strongest in nearly two-and-a-half years, according to the poll of 10 respondents. Bullish bets on the Chinese yuan too edged up and were at their highest since October. Markets were focused all week on trade negotiations between delegates from the U.S. and China, which culminated in a framework agreement that covered tariff rates, secured the removal of Chinese export restrictions on rare earth minerals, and allowed Chinese students to access U.S. universities. While the agreement restored a delicate truce between the sparring countries, it left markets yearning for details on how the deals would be implemented. The dollar index has weakened more than 9% this year and is expected to decline further in the coming months, benefiting Asian currencies. "In an environment where we are looking for the U.S. economy to slow, the Fed to cut and a Trump administration pursuing various protectionist measures, cyclical factors and structural factors are aligned to keep the USD on a downtrend," said Fiona Lim, senior FX strategist at Maybank. The South Korean won has risen more than 8%, rallying sharply after the election of liberal party candidate Lee Jae-myung as president earlier this month. Lee took office after riding a wave of anger over a brief martial law imposed by his predecessor and on promises of devising an emergency package to address stagnating economic growth and aid households. Long positions in the Taiwan dollar spiked, with much of the currency's 10% surge this year coming in last month. The currency carried its positive momentum into June from May, when it had appreciated more than 6% on speculation that the island nation would allow appreciation of the currency to smooth trade relations with Washington - a notion that Taiwanese authorities had vigorously denied. On the other hand, poll participants were less upbeat about the Singapore dollar and the Philippine peso where long positions were trimmed slightly. The trend flipped only for the Indian rupee with bets turning marginally bearish for the first time in two months after the country's central bank delivered a larger than expected 50-basis-point cut on Friday. The Asian currency positioning poll is focused on what analysts and fund managers believe are the current market positions in nine Asian emerging market currencies: the Chinese yuan, South Korean won, Singapore dollar, Indonesian rupiah, Taiwan dollar, Indian rupee, Philippine peso, Malaysian ringgit and the Thai baht. The poll uses estimates of net long or short positions on a scale of minus 3 to plus 3. A score of plus 3 indicates the market is significantly long U.S. dollars. The figures include positions held through non-deliverable forwards (NDFs). The survey findings are provided below (positions in U.S. dollar versus each currency): DATE USD/CNY USD/KRW USD/SGD USD/IDR USD/TWD USD/INR USD/MYR USD/PHP USD/THB 12-Jun-25 -0.78 -1.37 -1.24 -0.60 -1.58 0.03 -1.25 -0.93 -1.24 29-May-25 -0.67 -1.20 -1.34 -0.32 -1.50 -0.08 -1.04 -1.19 -1.14 15-May-25 0.00 -0.22 -0.54 0.70 -1.01 -0.19 -0.15 -0.68 -0.45 01-May-25 0.20 -0.06 -0.67 1.27 -0.53 -0.58 -0.40 -1.02 -0.61 17-Apr-25 0.57 0.19 -0.26 1.33 0.06 -0.20 0.04 -0.65 -0.30 03-Apr-25 0.47 1.13 0.54 1.20 1.14 0.01 0.33 -0.15 0.40 20-Mar-25 0.24 0.72 0.15 0.97 0.85 1.09 0.42 -0.13 0.08 06-Mar-25 0.77 1.00 0.34 1.36 0.71 1.47 0.45 0.20 0.48 20-Feb-25 0.88 0.83 0.31 1.06 0.59 1.22 0.37 0.31 0.02 06-Feb-25 1.15 1.01 0.86 1.25 1.14 1.98 0.62 0.93 0.23 Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

Big Tech Is Finally Losing
Big Tech Is Finally Losing

New York Times

time38 minutes ago

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Big Tech Is Finally Losing

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