Asian markets were mostly up in early trading Thursday as trade-war tensions eased after President Donald Trump announced a two-week delay in implementing tariff hikes against $250 billion in Chinese goods.
In a pair of tweets late Wednesday, Trump said the tariff hikes, which had been scheduled to take effect Oct. 1, will be put off until Oct. 15 as a “gesture of good will.” Earlier in the day, China said it would exempt some U.S. goods from tariff hikes it intends to impose starting Sept. 17. The conciliatory moves appear to be efforts to create goodwill before the resumption of trade negotiations in early October.
In a positive sign, Trump and China appear “willing to negotiate to put an end to this trade war spat,” Stephen Innes, Asia-Pacific market strategist at AxiTrader, wrote in a note.
Investors were also optimistic of a rate cut by the European Central Bank later Thursday. Policy makers are expected to announce further monetary stimulus at a news conference Thursday morning, Eastern time.
Japan’s Nikkei NIK, +0.88% gained 0.8% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI, -0.36% slid 0.5% after Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing made an unsolicited $36.6 billion bid to buy London Stock Exchange. Stocks in mainland China gave up early gains, with the Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, +0.20% and the Shenzhen Composite 399106, +0.14% last about flat. Stocks fell in Singapore STI, -0.20% and Indonesia JAKIDX, -0.26% but rose in Taiwan Y9999, +0.39% and Malaysia FBMKLCI, +0.26% . Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 XJO, +0.25% advanced 0.3%. South Korea’s Kospi was closed for a holiday.
Among individual stocks, Yahoo Japan 4689, +3.02% rose in Tokyo trading on reports it would buy a majority stake in e-commerce giant Zozo 3092, +14.82% . Rival Rakuten 4755, -2.66% fell on the news, while Honda 7267, +1.66% and Sony 6758, +1.09% gained. In Hong Kong, AAC 2018, +3.28% and Galaxy Entertainment 27, +0.56% rose while PetroChina 857, -1.65% and AIA Group 1299, -1.31% declined. Largan Precision 3008, +1.79% gained again in Taiwan. Beach Energy BPT, -2.55% fell in Australia while Virgin Australia VAH, +1.61% gained.
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