Australia

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Australian shares are set to open higher, after US stocks pared earlier losses.

ASX futures were up 0.02% or 2 points as of 8:30am on Wednesday, suggesting a higher open.

US investors considered the latest on tariffs, monetary policy and corporate earnings Tuesday and decided the S&P 500 was already priced just about right.

The broad US stock index added less than 0.1% in its smallest daily advance since November.

Gains by Apple and IBM helped push the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.3%, or about 123 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.4% as shares of Tesla, Nvidia and Alphabet declined.

Major indexes started the day lower after President Trump signed off on 25% tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum to the US.

Stocks pared their losses after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told a Senate committee that because the economy is doing well, the central bank can take its time deciding when and whether to cut interest rates.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil was up 1.28% to US$76.84 a barrel, while gold was down 0.35% to US$2,898.12.

The Australian dollar was at 62.96 US cents, up from its previous close of 62.75.

Asia

Chinese shares closed lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.1% to 3,318.06, and the Shenzhen Composite Index slipped 0.5% to 2,007.99.

Hong Kong shares ended lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 1.1% to 21,294.86.

Japanese shares closed flat. The Nikkei Stock Average was unchanged at 38,801.17.

India shares ended lower. The BSE SENSEX dropped 1.3% to 76,293.6.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. finished higher. The FTSE 100 Index added 0.1% to 8,777.39.

In Europe, shares closed higher. Germany's DAX rose 0.6% to 22,037.83, and France's CAC 40 increased 0.3% to 8,028.9.

North America

U.S. stocks ended mixed. The DJIA lifted 0.3% to 44,593.65, the S&P 500 was unchanged at 6,068.5, and the Nasdaq dropped 0.4% to 19,643.86.

Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were DuPont de Nemours Inc DD surging 6.85%, Ecolab Inc ECL jumped 6.22%, and Intel Corp INTC lifted 6.07%.

The biggest decliners were Fidelity National Information Services Inc FIS which dropped 11.49%, Super Micro Computer Inc SMCI fell 9.47%, and Tesla Inc TSLA lost 6.34%.