Asia-Pacific markets climbed Wednesday, after all three key benchmarks on Wall Street advanced overnight on optimism that U.S.-China trade tensions could ease. This comes after U.S. President Donald Trump indicated that final tariffs on Chinese exports to the U.S. "won't be anywhere near as high as 145%." However, he added that the duties "won't be 0%." Trump also said he has "no intention" to fire Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell before his term ends, alleviating investors' concerns over the central bank's independence. Hong Kong stocks led gains in the region, with the Hang Seng...
Hong Kong stocks surged 338 points or 1.6% to a near 10-week peak of 21,904 in Wednesday morning trade, rising for a third straight session. The rally followed a rebound on Wall Street after U.S. President Trump softened his tone on Fed Chair Powell, despite recently posting, "Powell's termination cannot come fast enough!" Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he expects the U.S. and China to begin de-escalating trade tensions "in the very near future." On the domestic front, reports suggested Chinese "national team" and retail investors stepped in to support mainland equities....
Major European stock markets advanced on Wednesday, with both the STOXX 50 and STOXX 600 gaining around 1%, building on the previous session's gain and mirroring a broadly positive global sentiment. Investors took comfort after President Trump stated he has no plans to dismiss Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, easing fears over the politicization of US monetary policy. Hopes for a de-escalation in trade tensions between the US and China also lifted sentiment, following remarks from both President Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. On the corporate front, shares of SAP jumped...
Japan stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Real Estate, Banking and Textile sectors led shares higher. At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 2.02%. The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Konica Minolta, Inc. (TYO:4902), which rose 9.95% or 39.70 points to trade at 438.60 at the close. Meanwhile, Fujifilm Holdings Corp. (TYO:4901) added 8.73% or 233.50 points to end at 2,909.50 and Hino Motors, Ltd. (TYO:7205) was up 6.55% or 29.70 points to 483.00 in late trade. The worst performers of the session were Nitori Holdings Co Ltd (TYO:9843),...
The Hang Seng jumped 510 points or 2.4% to close at a more than 3-week high of 22,073 on Wednesday, rising for a third session. The rally followed a surge in U.S. futures after President Trump said he had no plans to fire Fed Chair Powell and signaled the possibility of lower tariffs on China. Trump also backed off earlier threats to remove Powell, having recently urged the Fed to cut interest rates. Financials, consumer, and tech stocks posted solid rises of 2% to over 3%, as investors looked ahead to the upcoming Politburo meeting for clearer policy direction. Citi noted the session...