Asian stocks advanced on Wednesday, with Fed rate cut expectations and reports of an imminent snap election in Japan helping underpin investor sentiment.
Traders awaited a possible U.S. Supreme Court ruling on President Donald Trump's emergency tariffs, with speculators assigning a 73 percent chance that the apex court will declare Trump's tariffs illegal.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent assured the department has sufficient funds to pay any potential tariff refunds.
Trump said in his Truth Social post earlier this week that the financial exposure would go beyond tariff revenues already collected.
The dollar index consolidated in a tiny range in Asian trade and gold surged more than 1 percent to scale a new record high above $4,635 an ounce while oil edged lower after the biggest four-day advance in more than six months.
Chinese shares gave up early gains to end lower after authorities lifted the minimum margin requirement for financing stock purchases to curb excessive speculation in capital markets. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index ended down 0.31 percent at 4,126.09.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.56 percent to 26,999.81 after China announced record export numbers for 2025.