Asian markets mostly gained in early trading Tuesday, following upbeat remarks by President Donald Trump on Monday regarding the trade war with China.
Speaking at the conclusion of the G-7 summit in France, Trump said he was ready to resume trade negotiations with China, following what he said were two “very good calls” from Beijing. Chinese officials denied they made such calls though, but said they have been maintaining contact with U.S. officials. Still, Trump said China wants a deal “very badly” and left open the possibility of delaying or even canceling a fresh round of tariff hikes.
Japan’s Nikkei NIK, +1.23% rose 1.2%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI, +0.23% was about flat. The Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, +1.80% gained 1.8% while the Shenzhen Composite 399106, +2.30% surged 2.1%. South Korea’s Kospi 180721, +0.85% rose 0.8%, while benchmark indexes in Taiwan Y9999, +0.57% , Singapore STI, +0.28% , Malaysia FBMKLCI, -0.17% and Indonesia JAKIDX, +0.61% were mixed. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 XJO, +0.57% gained 0.5%.
Among individual stocks, Subaru 7270, +5.48% and SoftBank 9984, +2.89% surged in Tokyo trading. Fast Retailing 9983, +1.93% and Honda c 7267, +1.39% advanced as well. In Hong Kong, property developer Country Garden 2007, +4.62% and Volvo parent Geely Automobile 175, +3.56% rose, while China Mobile 941, -1.36% and Sunny Optical 2382, +0.29% retreated. Samsung 005930, +1.03% and SK Hynix 000660, +2.09% gained in South Korea, and Apple component maker Largan Precision 3008, +1.33% rose in Taiwan. In Australia, Beach Energy BPT, +2.52% and Fortescue Metals FMG, +5.44% jumped.
“It remains all about trade as President Donald Trump’s comments on the matter had once again been the primary driver for markets at the start of the week. Even though the sentiment had taken a positive turn on the latest update, uncertainty nevertheless persists to warrant a more cautious stance,” said Jingyi Pan, market strategist at IG in Singapore.
The S&P 500 SPX, +1.10% rose 31.27 points, or 1.1%, to 2,878.38. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +1.05% gained 269.93 points, or 1.1%, to 25,898.83. The Nasdaq COMP, +1.32% , which is heavily weighted with technology stocks, rose 101.97 points, or 1.3%, to 7,853.74.
The major U.S. indexes are each on track for losses of 3% or more in August in what has been a volatile month for the market as investors try to gauge whether trade conflicts and slowing economies around the world will drag the U.S. into a recession.
On Friday, China announced new tariffs on $75 billion in U.S. goods. Trump responded angrily on Twitter, at one point saying he “hereby ordered” U.S. companies with operations in China to consider moving them to other countries, including the U.S.
Analysts say uncertainties are bound to remain on global markets as long as Trump continues to send conflicting messages.
“The bigger picture is that deep-seated issues are unlikely to be resolved on the flick of a switch or tweet,” said a report from the Asia & Oceania Treasury Department of Mizuho Bank.
Trump later announced the U.S. would increase existing tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese goods to 30% from 25%, and that new tariffs on another $300 billion of imports would be 15% instead of 10%.
Global markets appeared headed for another wave of selling early Monday, when indexes in Asia closed lower, until Trump said his trade negotiators had received two “very good calls” from China.
During a news conference in France after the Group of Seven industrialized nations’ meeting, Trump said “China wants to make a deal, and if we can, we will make a deal.”
Benchmark crude oil CLV19, +0.69% rose 37 cents to $54.01 a barrel. It fell 53 cents to settle at $53.64 a barrel. Brent crude oil BRNV19, +0.60% , the international standard, rose 35 cents to $59.05 a barrel.
The dollar USDJPY, -0.38% inched down to 105.78 Japanese yen from 105.88 yen on Monday.
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