Asia-Pacific markets were set to open mixed Tuesday, after U.S. President Donald Trump took aim at South Korea overnight, threatening to increase tariffs on Asia's fourth-largest economy.
Trump said on Truth Social that the country's legislature has not approved Seoul's trade deal with Washington, and that tariffs on the South Korea will climb to 25%, from 15%.
The threat could dent sentiment in South Korean markets, which has notched 15 days of gains out of the 17 sessions since the start of the year.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 started the day 1.12% up, reaching its highest level in almost 3 months, coming back from a holiday on Monday.
Japan's Nikkei 225 futures pointed to a weaker open for the market, with the futures contract in Chicago at 52,880, and its counterpart in Osaka at 52,790, compared to the previous close of 52,885.25.
Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures were at 26,883, higher than the HSI's last close of 26,765.52.
Overnight in the U.S., the S&P 500 index advanced 0.50%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.64%.
The Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.43%, supported by jumps of about 3%, 2% and 1% in Apple, Meta Platforms and Microsoft, respectively, ahead of their earnings reports later in the week.
âCNBC's Sean Conlon and Fred Imbert contributed to this report.
