Australia

Australian shares are set to open higher, after US markets largely shrugged off President-elect Donald Trump's latest tariff threat.

ASX futures were up 0.45% or 38 points as of 8:30am on Wednesday, suggesting a higher open.

US stock indexes rose after Trump said he would impose a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada on his first day in office, and levy additional tariffs of 10% on Chinese imports. Treasury yields were modestly higher, after falling sharply Monday.

The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average notched fresh records, rising 0.6% and 0.3%, respectively. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.6%.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil was down 0.4% to US$72.70 a barrel, while gold was up 0.3% to US$2,633.29.

The Australian dollar was at 64.59 US cents, down from its previous close of 65.02.

Asia

Chinese shares closed lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.1% to 3,259.76, and the Shenzhen Composite Index fell 0.9% to 1,956.14.

Hong Kong shares ended flat. The benchmark Hang Seng Index was 19,159.20.

Japanese shares closed lower. The Nikkei Stock Average dropped 0.9% to 38,442.00.

India shares ended lower. The BSE SENSEX slipped 0.1% to 80,004.06.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. finished lower. The FTSE 100 Index lost 0.4% to 8,258.61.

In Europe, shares closed lower. Germany's DAX fell 0.6% to 19,295.98, and France's CAC 40 dropped 0.9% to 7,194.51.

North America

U.S. stocks ended higher. The DJIA rose 0.3% to 44,860.31, the S&P 500 added 0.6% to 6,021.63, and the Nasdaq gained 0.6% to 19,174.30.

Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were NRG Energy Inc, surging 10.17%, Constellation Energy Corp jumped 7.16%, and JM Smucker Co lifted 5.73%.

The biggest decliners were Super Micro Computer Inc which dropped 10.40%, General Motors Co fell 8.99%, and Align Technology Inc lost 5.23%.