Asian markets slipped mostly into red on Wednesday, the final trading session of 2025, as investors remained cautious ahead of the New Year holiday and took cues from Wall Street losses.In Hong Kong, HSI slipped over 224 points to 25,630. Nikkai was also trading at a loss, shedding 187 points or 0.3%. Shanghai and Shenzhen were also down 0.07% and 0.67% at 10:35 AM IST. South Korea’s Kospi was also down 6 points to trade at 4,214. With the holiday season keeping participation low, trading volumes across the region remained thin. Commodities offered a steadier picture, with precious metals holding their ground after retreating from record levels seen earlier in the week. The uneven performance followed a muted session in the United States, where major Wall Street indices finished slightly lower on Tuesday. Investor unease over stretched valuations in artificial intelligence (AI)-linked stocks continued to weigh on sentiment. Even so, US markets were still set to deliver solid gains for the full year, a trend mirrored across much of Asia. Regional markets benefited from a combination of easing monetary conditions and a powerful rally in technology shares. In China, fresh official data showed factory activity edged up marginally in December, offering a rare positive signal at the close of an otherwise subdued year for the world’s second-largest economy. A key driver of the year’s global market strength has been the US Federal Reserve’s shift towards monetary easing in the latter half of 2025, alongside a flood of investment into AI-related technologies. Minutes from the Fed’s December policy meeting revealed that most officials consider further interest rate cuts appropriate, provided inflation continues to cool as anticipated. Precious metals have been among the most volatile assets in recent days, lifted by their demand as safe-haven investments amid ongoing geopolitical tensions. Gold and silver both touched record highs last week before pulling back.

India rolled out a new trade measure on Tuesday, imposing safeguard duties on certain steel imports for a period of three years. The move comes as a push to protect domestic manufacturers from a surge in low-cost overseas supplies, particularly from China.As per a finance ministry notification, the safeguard duty will stand at 12% in the first year, ease to 11.5% in the second, and fall further to 11% in the final year. The decision follows a detailed probe into import trends and their impact on local producers.The levy will apply to steel shipments from countries including China, Vietnam and Nepal. However, imports from some developing nations have been kept outside the scope of the measure. The order also makes it clear that specialty steel products, such as stainless steel, will not be covered under the safeguard duty.The directorate general of trade remedies, which examined the matter, recommended the three-year tariff after observing a “recent, sudden, sharp ‍and significant ⁠increase in imports … ⁠causing and threatening to cause serious injury to the domestic industry,” the order stated. The latest move builds on an earlier step taken in April, when the government imposed a temporary 200-day safeguard duty of 12% on similar steel products, according to a Reuters report.Officials from the federal steel ministry have repeatedly stated that unchecked inflows of cheap and sub-standard steel could harm India’s domestic steel sector, prompting the need for protective measures.The decision also comes against the backdrop of growing global trade tensions in the steel market. US President Donald Trump’s import tariffs on steel have intensified scrutiny of Chinese exports, leading countries such as South Korea and Vietnam to introduce anti-dumping duties earlier this year.