Shares advanced Wednesday in Asia after the U.S. and China said they are planning trade talks in Switzerland later this week.
Hong Kong's benchmark briefly jumped more than 2% after officials in Beijing rolled out interest rate cuts and other moves to help support the Chinese economy and markets.
U.S. futures and oil prices also rose.
But the market reaction to both developments was relatively restrained. Investors are also waiting for the outcome of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting, which wraps up later Wednesday. Virtually no one expects the central bank to change its main interest rate, even though Trump has been advocating for cuts.
In Asian trading, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 edged 0.1% higher to 36,835.00.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong was up 0.4% by midafternoon, at 22,745.04. The Shanghai Composite index rose 0.4% to 3,330.08.
The trade talks may account for the decision to announce the economic rescue package, Lynne Song of ING Economics said in a report.
"This way, the easing won't be seen as a knee-jerk reaction to tariffs. Policymakers are likely now privy to some of the early data on how the economy is being impacted by the tariff shock," Song said.
But analysts said the muted response to the policies announced Wednesday also may reflect disappointment over the lack of major government spending increases that many economists say may be needed to wrest the Chinese economy out of its doldrums.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 picked up 0.3% to 8,173.40, while the Kospi in South Korea gained 0.6% to 2,576.02.
On Tuesday, U.S. stocks closed lower as quarterly results showed more companies are scrubbing their forecasts for upcoming profits because of uncertainty created by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs.
The S&P 500 fell 0.8% in its second drop after breaking a nine-day winning streak, its longest such run in more than 20 years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.9%, and the Nasdaq composite finished 0.9% lower.
Palantir Technologies was one of the heaviest weights on the market as it sank 12%. The company, which offers an AI platform for customers, dropped even though it reported a profit for the latest quarter that met analysts' expectations and raised its forecast for revenue over the full year.
AI-related companies have been finding it more difficult recently to convince investors to support their stocks after they've already shot so high. Palantir's stock's price remains near $110, when it was sitting at only $20 less than a year ago.
The return to Earth for AI stocks is happening as Trump's tariffs change the economic landscape for other companies.
Mattel said it's "pausing" its financial forecasts for 2025, in part because the "evolving U.S. tariff landscape" is making it difficult to predict how much U.S. shoppers will spend over the holiday season and the rest of this year.
The toymaker closed 2.8% higher after also reporting better results for the latest quarter than analysts feared.
Uncertainty around tariffs has made U.S. households more pessimistic about the economy and could affect their long-term plans for purchases. That uncertainty has helped fuel a surge in imports ahead of potentially more severe tariffs ahead.
The U.S. trade deficit soared to a record $140.5 billion in March as consumers and businesses alike tried to get ahead of tariffs that went into effect in April and others that have been postponed until July. Last week, the government reported the U.S. economy shrank at a 0.3% annual pace during the first quarter of the year because of a surge in imports.
Some companies say they're already seeing impacts to their business from the uncertainty created by tariffs.
DoorDash fell 7.4% after reporting weaker revenue than analysts expected for the latest quarter.
Also early Wednesday, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was steady at 4.31%.
U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 76 cents to $59.85 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 70 cents to $62.85 per barrel.
The dollar rose to 142.95 Japanese yen from 142.41 yen. The euro fell to $1.1367 from $1.1369.
