Overseas shares and U.S. futures advanced Tuesday, led by gains in Tokyo where the Nikkei 225 shot up just over 6% as markets calmed somewhat after the shocks from President Trump ‘s tariff hikes.

The modest rebound for most markets followed a wild day on Wall Street, where stocks careened after Trump threatened to crank his double-digit tariffs higher.

Early Tuesday, China’s Commerce Ministry said it would “fight to the end” and take unspecified countermeasures against the United States after Mr. Trump threatened another 50% tariff on Chinese imports.

Germany’s DAX gained 0.9% to 19,975.81 while the CAC 40 in Paris was up 1.3% at 7,018.79. Britain’s FTSE 100 also picked up 1.3%, to 7,804.73.

Futures for the S&P 500 gained 1.61% early Tuesday while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 2.08% and those for the Nasdaq Composite were 1.33% higher, according to Yahoo Finance.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 closed a smidgen over 6% higher, at 33,012.58.

Hong Kong also recovered some lost ground, but nothing close to the 13.2% dive Monday that gave the Hang Seng its worst day since the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

The Hang Seng gained 1% to 20,036.03. The Shanghai Composite index jumped 1.4% to 3,140.15 after the government investment fund Central Huijin directed state-owned companies to help support the market with share purchases.

South Korea’s Kospi picked up 0.3% to 2,334.23, while the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia climbed 2.3% to 7,510.00.

 Markets in Thailand and Indonesia tumbled, however, as they reopened after holidays. Trading was suspended briefly in Jakarta when the JSX index fell more than 9%. It was down 7.6% by mid-afternoon. Thailand’s SET lost 4.2%.

In Taiwan, the Taiex lost 4%, pulled lower by losses for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., or TSMC, the world’s largest computer chip maker. Its shares fell 3.8% on Tuesday. 

On Monday, the S&P 500 sagged 0.2%, the Dow sank 0.9% and the Nasdaq edged up 0.1% as shell-shocked investors watched to see what Mr. Trump will do next in his trade war. If other countries agree to trade deals, he could lower his tariffs and avoid a possible recession. But if he sticks with tariffs for the long haul, stock prices may fall further, analysts said.  

MEXICO CITY — The number of monarch butterflies wintering in the mountains west of Mexico City rebounded this year, doubling the area they covered in 2024 despite the stresses of climate change and habitat loss, experts said Thursday.

The annual butterfly count doesn’t calculate the individual number of butterflies, but rather the number of acres they cover as they gather on tree branches in the mountain pine and fir forests. Monarchs from east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada overwinter there.

Mexico’s Commission for National Protected Areas (CONANP) said that this year, butterflies covered 4.4 acres (1.79 hectares) compared to only 2.2 acres (0.9 hectares) the year before. Last year’s figure represented a 59% drop from 2023, the second lowest level since record keeping began.

After wintering in Mexico, the iconic butterflies with black and orange wings fly north, breeding multiple generations along the way for thousands of miles. The offspring that reach southern Canada begin the trip back to Mexico at the end of summer.

Gloria Tavera Alonso, the Mexican agency’s director general of conservation, said the improved numbers owed to better climatic factors and humidity. Drought along the butterflies’ migratory route had been listed as a factor in last year’s decline.

The impact of changes in weather year after year mean fluctuations are expected. For that, Jorge Rickards, Mexico director general for the World Wildlife Fund, said “you can’t let down your guard” and must continue to expand conservation efforts.

Tavera Alonso credited ongoing efforts to increase the number of plants the butterflies rely on for sustenance and reproduction along their flyway.

Butterflies have not been faring well north of the border.

The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation has been counting western overwinter populations of monarch butterflies — a separate population from those that winter in central Mexico — along the California coast, northern Baja California and inland sites in California and Arizona for the last 28 years. The highest number recorded was 1.2 million in 1997. The organization announced in February that it counted just 9,119 monarchs in 2024, a decrease of 96% from 233,394 in 2023. The total was the second-lowest since the survey began in 1997.

And the first countrywide systematic analysis of butterfly abundance in the United States found that the number of butterflies in the Lower 48 states has been falling on average 1.3% a year since the turn of the century, with 114 species showing significant declines and only nine increasing, according to a study in Thursday’s journal Science.

Experts say that monarchs face risks across North America in large part due to the reduction in milkweed where the monarchs lay their eggs. The plant has been disappearing due to drought, wildfires, herbicides and urbanization.

In December, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed that monarch butterflies receive protection as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.

____

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Tesla’s shares surged after the world’s largest electric vehicle maker reported higher than expected quarterly profit while forecasting “slight growth” in deliveries this year and a big jump in 2025.

The performance marks a turnaround for Tesla, which has endured a few disappointing quarters as concern spread about slowing global demand for electric vehicles. It has also been caught up in the divisive political activism of its chief executive, Elon Musk, and a court battle to restore his $56bn package of share options.

Musk on Wednesday afternoon predicted vehicle sales could increase 20 per cent to 30 per cent next year after cost cuts reduce the prices of existing cars which in turn would spur demand.

He also cited improvements to the self-driving technology and new products, including its autonomous “Cybercab” unveiled earlier this month. Musk also said lower interest rates were reducing monthly financing payments and that was having a meaningful impact on demand.

Tesla’s shares were up more than 16 per cent shortly after Wall Street’s opening bell on Thursday. That may provide some relief to investors, given shares are half their November 2021 peak, though the group is still the most valuable global carmaker at $763bn.

Adjusted net income for the third quarter rose 8 per cent from a year ago to $2.5bn, exceeding expectations of $2.1bn, according to a filing from the Texas-based company. Revenue rose 8 per cent to $25.2bn, slightly undershooting the average $25.4bn estimate by analysts.

Profit was driven by a 2 per cent increase in revenue from vehicle sales — which contributes four-fifths of group income — alongside a 52 per cent jump at its energy generation and storage business and a 29 per cent increase in its services arm, which includes its supercharger network.

Operating expenses fell 6 per cent to $2.3bn after it cut a tenth of its workforce, about 14,000 jobs, earlier this year.

“Despite ongoing macroeconomic conditions, we expect to achieve slight growth in vehicle deliveries in 2024,” Tesla said. “Plans for new vehicles, including more affordable models, remain on track for start of production in the first half of 2025.”

However, Musk said Tesla was not developing a much-anticipated affordable $25,000 “Model 2”.

“We are not making a non-robotaxi model . . . Having a regular [$25,000] model is pointless, it is completely irrelevant considering what we believe,” he said.

“This is blindingly obvious at this point, that [autonomy] is the future,” he added.

Instead, Musk said Tesla was focused on reducing the cost of existing models. Its Cybercab would cost roughly $25,000, when government electric vehicle incentives are deducted.

Musk has made a strategic pivot towards autonomous driving, artificial intelligence and robotics, predicting these technologies would soon be Tesla’s main revenue sources and drive up its valuation. He recently unveiled a prototype for a new fleet of self-driving “Cybercabs” that he hopes to have in production before the start of 2027.

However, a lack of engineering or financial details in the splashy “We, Robot” event — held at a movie studio in Los Angeles, where Tesla’s “Optimus” humanoid robots danced to Daft Punk and served beer to attendees — disappointed analysts and investors and shares fell 9 per cent in the aftermath.

Data for the third quarter provided more optimism. Tesla said Cybertruck production reported a positive gross margin for the first time — after years of production delays and recalls — and was the third best-selling electric vehicle in the US behind its Model Y and Model 3. The company added its “Semi” electric truck factory would start production by the end of next year, for which Musk said there was “ridiculous demand”.

Earlier this month, Tesla reported deliveries rose 6.4 per cent in the third quarter to 462,890 vehicles globally, buoyed by Chinese sales that offset weak demand in Europe. It retained its position as the top electric vehicle maker ahead of China’s BYD.

Analysts on Wednesday also flagged an improvement to Tesla’s gross margin, which widened to 19.8 per cent in the quarter from 17.9 per cent in the same period last year.

The closely watched financial metric was flattered by $739mn of revenue from regulatory credits, which it sells to other manufacturers that do not meet electric vehicle production-related emissions targets. That was its second highest after the record $890mn in the second quarter.

Tesla also provided an update on the number of Nvidia H100 graphics processing unit chips installed at its Texas manufacturing plant used to train the AI systems that underpin its self-driving technology, called FSD. It said 29,000 were installed in a cluster at the Gigafactory and this would increase to 50,000 by the end of October.

Musk has courted controversy for his robust backing of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. He is giving away $1mn a day to registered voters in swing states who sign a petition backing free speech and the right to bear arms.

In return, Trump has pledged to make Musk head of a “department of government efficiency” that would make suggestions for cutting spending, bureaucracy and regulations, a position that could benefit his other companies, including SpaceX and social media network X. However, those political activities risk provoking the ire of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris should she win.

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Josh Giddey will not face charges from the Newport Beach Police Department following an investigation into an alleged inappropriate relationship between the 21-year-old player and an underage girl.

“After a thorough and exhaustive examination, we have completed our investigation into information that was circulating on social media involving Josh Giddey,” Newport Beach police said in a statement Wednesday night. “Our detectives have reviewed all of the available information and were unable to corroborate any criminal activity related to Mr. Giddey.”

Images and video of Giddey and a female who is allegedly underage and a high school student in Orange County began surfacing on social media in late November. The NBA started an investigation into the matter at the time, but commissioner Adam Silver later told ESPN that the league’s probe would take “a backseat” after police launched their inquiry.

Now that the police investigation is over, NBA spokesman Michael Bass said Wednesday, the league is “continuing our review” of the matter.

Giddey, who has not commented on the issue, has continued to play for the Thunder since the allegations arose, missing only a Dec. 23 game against the Lakers because of an ankle injury. He is largely cheered at home games but not so much on the road. The Australian is averaging 11.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game for the Thunder, who are 27-13 and in second place in the Western Conference standings.

After being selected sixth overall in the 2021 draft, Giddey made the All-Rookie second team during the 2021-22 season, then averaged 16.6 points, 7.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists last season. He led Australia with 19.4 points a game at the World Cup last summer.