Asian shares mixed after new US tariffs put on China exports

ELAINE KURTENBACH

BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were mostly higher in Asia on Wednesday after the U.S. followed through with plans to put higher tariffs on $16 billion in Chinese exports.

KEEPING SCORE: Japan's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.4 percent to 22,749.27 and the Shanghai Composite index fell 0.3 percent to 2,770.49. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index added 0.4 percent to 28,368.84. Australia's S&P ASX 200 climbed 0.3 percent to 6,275.00 while South Korea's Kospi added 0.3 percent to 2,307.59. Shares were mostly higher in Southeast Asia.

WALL STREET: Earnings helped drive the fourth straight day of gains, led by industrial companies and banks. Gains for Microsoft and Google's parent company Alphabet helped technology companies. Tesla surged after the Financial Times reported that Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund had invested in the company and CEO Elon Musk later said he might take the company private. The S&P 500 index rose 0.3 percent to 2,858.45. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 0.5 percent to 25,628.91 and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.3 percent, to 7,883.66. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks edged up 0.2 percent to 1,688.30.

TESLA: Musk said he had not made a decision about taking the company private but such a move would make it easier for Tesla to focus on long-term goals. Musk, who owns about 20 percent of Tesla's stock, said he would pay $420 a share, well above Tesla's all-time high from September. The stock gained 11 percent to $379.57.

TRADE MOVES: The Trump administration said Tuesday that it will go ahead with imposing 25 percent tariffs on an additional $16 billion in Chinese imports. Customs officials will begin collecting the border tax Aug. 23, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said. The list is heavy on industrial products such as steam turbines and iron girders. So far, the tariffs that the U.S. and its trading partners have announced recently are still small and haven't affected the broader market very much. A government newspaper said Tuesday that Beijing was planning policies to encourage investment amid concern about slowing economic growth and trade tensions. The China Daily said some state banks issued orders to local branches to lend more money.

CHINA TOWER IPO: Shares in the state-owned monopoly that operates China's vast network of mobile phone towers are flat as the company makes its stock market debut in Hong Kong after raising $6.9 billion from investors. China Tower Corp. was trading at 1.27 Hong Kong dollars (16.2 U.S. cents) per share at midday on Wednesday, little-changed from its initial public offering price of 1.26 Hong Kong dollars (16 U.S. cents). China Tower says it operates 1.9 million cell tower sites across China, the biggest mobile phone market. It has given no indication of plans to expand abroad.

ENERGY: U.S. crude oil picked up 14 cents to $69.31 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It added 16 cents to $69.17 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the standard for international oil prices, was flat at $74.65 a barrel.

CURRENCIES: The dollar slipped to 111.33 yen from 111.37 yen. The euro rose to $1.1625 from $1.1599.

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AP Markets Writer Marley Jay contributed. He can be reached at http://twitter.com/MarleyJayAP His work can be found at https://apnews.com/search/marley%20jay