Asian stocks waver despite Wall St's rally and upbeat Chinese factory data

Asian equities wavered despite upbeat Chinese factory data, after beginning the day with solid gains, as sharply higher tariffs on U.S. imports of Chinese goods looked set to take effect on Tuesday.

In Hong Kong, Chinese bubble tea chain Mixue Bingcheng’s shares soared 43% Monday after its $444 million IPO. Local reports said it set a local record for subscriptions, which exceeded 1 trillion Hong Kong dollars ($128 billion). The company claims to be the world's largest food retail chain, with more than 45,000 outlets.

But after a strong start, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index (HSI) shed 0.2% to 22,898.55, while the Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.3% to 3,310.52.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 advanced 1.7% to 37,785.47.

South Korean markets were closed for a holiday, while the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia gained 0.9% to 8,245.70.

Taiwan's Taiex sank 1.3%, while in Bangkok, the SET fell 0.8%.

Surveys of Chinese factory managers showed signs of improvement in February as new orders rose, likely driven by companies moving quickly to beat rising tariffs on exports to the United States, where the administration of President Donald Trump has boosted import duties on Chinese goods to 20%, effective Tuesday.

A report by the Communist Party newspaper Global Times said China was considering retaliatory moves, including higher tariffs on U.S. exports of food and other agricultural goods.

On Friday, the S&P 500 jumped 1.6 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.4%. The Nasdaq composite jumped 1.6% to 18,847.28.

The S&P 500 had dropped in five of the prior six days after weaker-than-expected reports on the economy and worries about President Donald Trump’s tariffs knocked the index off its all-time high set last week.

Stocks that flew in the frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology have slumped sharply and Bitcoin dropped more than 20% from its record.

On Friday, Nvidia rose 4% following its 8.5% tumble Thursday and was the strongest force lifting the S&P 500.

Stocks rose following an economic report that included both positives and negatives. Inflation across the country cooled a bit as economists had expected, according to the measure that the Federal Reserve prefers to use. That's good news for the entire market because it could give the central bank leeway to continue cutting its main interest rate at some point later this year.

The Fed has been keeping rates on hold so far this year after cutting them sharply late last year, in large part because of concerns about inflation, which is still high, even if it’s not as bad as its peak in 2022. A widespread worry is that increased tariffs and other policies announced by Trump could push prices for the cost of living even higher.

Friday's report also said U.S. households pulled back on their spending during January, likely undermining a major engine that has been staving off a recession despite high interest rates.

Wall Street hopes that Trump is just using the tariffs as a bargaining chip in negotiating with other countries and that he’ll tamp them down. That would mean less pain for the global economy than initially feared.

But recent reports have nevertheless shown all the talk of tariffs has U.S. consumers bracing for much higher inflation, which could drag on the economy.

Uncertainty around tariffs, deregulation and other potential moves could mean “if the market doesn’t see Trump moving towards more market-friendly policies, the level of trust could continue eroding,” Bank of America economists wrote in a BofA Global Research report.

Of course, much of January’s drop in spending by U.S. households could have been the simple result of painfully cold weather around the country and other anomalies. But it also followed several signals of slowing growth for the U.S. economy, which closed 2024 running at a solid pace.

In other dealings early Monday, U.S. benchmark crude oil picked up 42 cents to $70.18 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, was up 43 cents at $73.24 per barrel.

The U.S. dollar fell to 150.46 Japanese yen from 150.72 yen. The euro rose to $1.0412 from $1.0402.

Early Monday, Bitcoin was trading at $92,500 after trading around $84,000 on Friday.