Asian stocks up, dollar soft as trade uncertainty mounts

By Ankur Banerjee

SINGAPORE, June 4 (Reuters) - Asian stocks inched higher on Wednesday and the dollar wobbled near six-week lows as traders braced for higher US duties on steel and aluminium, the latest chapter in the trade war saga that has rattled the markets for much of the year.

South Korea's stocks and its currency surged as liberal presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung's election victory raised hopes of swift economic stimulus, market reforms and easing policy uncertainty.

The benchmark jumped more than 2% to its highest since August 2024. That left the MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan 0.6% higher.

Japan's rose 0.8%, while Taiwan stocks jumped 1.6% after artificial intelligence behemoth Nvidia boosted US stocks overnight.

Data on Wednesday showed US job openings increased in April, but layoffs picked up, indicating a slowing labour market as tariffs impact the economic outlook.

Investor attention has been on a possible call between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping sometime this week as tensions between the world's top two economies simmer.

Trump on Friday accused China of violating a Geneva agreement to roll back tariffs and trade restrictions. Beijing said it would safeguard its interests and that the accusation was groundless.

Chinese stocks were little changed in early trading with the blue chip index up 0.09%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.27%.

"Markets may be desensitized to trade headlines, but Trump-Xi talks remain in focus. A grand deal looks unlikely, yet any escalation could still spark a bout of risk aversion," said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo in Singapore.

Also in focus has been the pace of trade negotiations and the lack of significant progress. Wednesday is the deadline for US trading partners to submit their proposals for deals that might help them avoid Trump's hefty "Liberation Day" tariffs from taking effect in five weeks.

Trump signed an executive proclamation that puts into effect from 0401 GMT on Wednesday his surprise announcement last week that he was taking the tariffs on steel and aluminium imports that had been in place since March to 50% from 25%.

"We believe that the steel & aluminium tariffs are an exemplar of other strategic tariffs that are coming and likely to 'stick'," said Thierry Wizman, global FX & rates strategist at Macquarie. "With that, there's still little impetus for a US dollar rally to take hold."

DOLLAR WEAKNESS

The on-again-off-again tariffs from Trump have led to investors fleeing US assets looking for safe havens, including gold and other currencies, this year as they expect trade uncertainties to take a toll on the global economy.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said the global economy is on course to slow from 3.3% last year to 2.9% in 2025 and 2026, trimming its estimates from March, mainly on the fallout from the Trump administration's trade war.

The dollar on Wednesday was on the back foot, slipping 0.17% against the yen at 143.72 and 0.1% against the Swiss franc at 0.8227. The euro rose 0.15% to $1.1388.

The dollar index, which measures the US unit versus six other major currencies, was at 99.11, not far from the six-week low of 98.58 touched on Monday. The index is down 8.5% this year.

In commodities, oil prices eased, weighed down by a loosening supply-demand balance following increasing OPEC+ output and lingering concerns over the global economic outlook due to tariff tensions.

Brent crude futures dipped 0.06% to $65.59 a barrel while US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $63.35 per barrel, down 0.09%.

Gold rose 0.5% to $3,369.59 per ounce, taking its gains for the year to an eye-popping 28% on safe-haven flows.

(Reporting by Ankur Banerjee in Singapore; Editing by Jamie Freed)