Most markets rose in Asia on Tuesday following another rally on Wall Street sparked by tech giants as traders try to assess Donald Trump’s tariff plans following a report he may take a more targeted approach.Eyes were also on the release of closely watched US jobs data at the end of the week after the Federal Reserve scaled back its interest rate cut expectations and took a more hawkish turn.After a tepid start to the week, Asian investors fought to recover on Tuesday after a tech-fuelled rally in the S&P and Nasdaq — with Nvidia hitting a record — as strong results from Taiwan-based chip giant Foxconn sparked a fresh rush for semiconductors.The US gains were also helped after The Washington Post said Trump’s aides were weighing plans to apply tariffs only to goods in certain critical sectors — a more narrow definition than the president-elect previously proposed.The report comes after Trump warned last year that he would slam huge levies on China, Canada and Mexico amid fears of a return to his hardball trade policy.However, he later hit back at the Post story, saying it “incorrectly states that my tariff policy will be pared back. That is wrong”. He added that it was “just another example of Fake News”.Most markets rose in early Asian business, with Tokyo up two percent helped by a weak yen, while Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Seoul, Taipei, Mumbai, Bangkok and Jakarta were also higher. Wellington and Manila fell.Hong Kong also retreated as tech firms took a hit with Tencent diving more than seven percent after it was named by the United States in a list of “Chinese military companies”. Its US-listed shares shed 7.8 percent.A spokesperson for Tencent said the company’s inclusion on the list “is clearly a mistake”, and that “we are not a military company or supplier”.Still, Morningstar senior equity analyst Ivan Su said: “Given Tencent’s business model -—which primarily revolves around social networking and online gaming — we believe the company has a good chance to secure exclusion through US courts.”Major battery manufacturer CATL, which was also named on the list, briefly sank more than five percent in Shenzhen before paring the losses.The announcement came just weeks before Trump returns to the White House, with many commentators fearing another trade war with China.There is also growing concern that his plans to slash taxes, remove regulations, impose tariffs on imports and crack down on immigration will reignite inflation, putting pressure on the Fed to keep borrowing costs higher for longer.”While an aggressive Trump may try to deliver large fiscal stimulus, stronger demand would quickly run into a deteriorating supply side of the US economy,” said David Rees, senior emerging markets economist at Schroders.”Despite being partially absorbed by the stronger US dollar and profit margins, substantially higher tariffs would be likely to increase goods inflation.”But the greater threat to inflation probably comes from a crackdown on immigration, along with mass deportations, if it leads to labour shortages that would ultimately result in higher wages and services inflation.”Friday’s non-farm payroll report is the next big marker for investors hoping for some idea about the Fed’s plans for rates after it scaled back its forecasts for cuts in 2025 last month.London, Paris and Frankfurt opened lower.- Key figures around 0810 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 2.0 percent at 40,083.30 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.2 percent at 19,447.58 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.7 percent at 3,229.64 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.5 percent at 8,207,51Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0418 from $1.0388 on MondayPound/dollar: UP at $1.2556 from $1.2518Dollar/yen: DOWN at 157.53 yen from 157.64 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 82.95 pence from 82.98 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.3 percent at $73.34 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.2 percent at $76.16 per barrelNew York – Dow: DOWN 0.1 percent at 42,706.56 (close)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken insisted during a visit to Tokyo on Tuesday that ties with Japan were stronger than ever, days after President Joe Biden blocked Nippon Steel’s takeover of US Steel.Business groups say the move could have a chilling effect on Japan’s standing as the biggest foreign investor in the United States, just as Washington seeks closer relations to counter China.Two weeks before president-elect Donald Trump takes office, and with Marco Rubio slated to replace Blinken, the top US diplomat recalled that he came to Japan on his first trip in 2021.The visits at the beginning and end of his tenure show “the centrality of the US-Japan alliance” for Washington, Blinken told reporters after meeting Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.”As we look at the last four years, we’ve seen an alliance, a partnership, a friendship, that’s grown stronger than it’s ever been,” Blinken said.He pointed to expanding security ties — including three-way partnerships with South Korea and the Philippines and a four-way grouping with Australia and India.”Our economies are extraordinarily intertwined. We are the largest investors in each other’s economies,” Blinken said. Japanese firms invested almost $800 billion in the United States in 2023.Blinken made no mention of Biden’s decision last week to block Nippon Steel’s $14.9-billion takeover of long-struggling US Steel, citing national security concerns.The two companies filed a lawsuit on Monday against the Biden administration’s “illegal interference” in the transaction.- More protectionism -“We’re certain the lawsuit will reveal a set of facts that clearly violate the constitution and the law, so I believe we have a chance of winning,” Nippon Steel chair Eiji Hashimoto said on Tuesday.Trump, who takes office on January 20, “wants to make manufacturing strong again”, Hashimoto added.”This is exactly in line with what we’re doing,” he said.Nippon Steel had touted the takeover as a lifeline for a US company long past its heyday but opponents warned that the Japanese owners would slash jobs.US Steel and Nippon Steel argued in their suit that Biden had blocked the deal for political reasons by ignoring the rule of law to gain favour with workers’ unions.Protectionism is expected only to intensify under Trump, who in his first term exited a nascent Pacific-wide trade pact and has vowed to use tariffs to protect US industry.The president-elect made clear on Monday he would not reverse the Nippon Steel decision.”Why would they want to sell U.S. Steel now when tariffs will make it a much more profitable and valuable company?” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.”Wouldn’t it be nice to have U.S. Steel, once the greatest company in the world, lead the charge toward greatness again?”- Investment concerns -Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya raised the Nippon Steel case with Blinken and stressed the importance of Japanese investment in the United States, Tokyo’s foreign ministry said.Ishiba said Monday that the United States should “explain clearly” the security worries cited by Biden.”There are concerns being raised within Japan’s industrial world over future Japan-US investment,” Ishiba warned in unusually outspoken comments.Yasuhide Yajima, chief economist at NLI Research Institute, told AFP that Biden’s decision would “certainly create a hurdle for Japanese firms, especially manufacturers, to do business over there”.Blinken, however, focused on areas of cooperation.After a sushi breakfast at a famous fish market, he held a working lunch with Iwaya and discussed North Korea’s latest missile test, carried out Monday as Blinken visited Seoul.Blinken also spoke with Japanese leaders about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and tensions over Taiwan and China’s “dangerous and destabilising behaviour” in the South China Sea, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.In a key goal for his trip, Blinken voiced confidence that South Korea and Japan would preserve cooperation, including intelligence-sharing on North Korea.South Korea’s conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol has pushed to turn the page on historical tension with Japan, but he was impeached after stunning the nation with a failed attempt to impose martial law last month.