Hope for new U.S.-China trade talks boosts stocks in Japan, Hong Kong, Korea
Asian markets rose in early trading Friday although trade tensions between the U.S. and China lingered. While China said it welcomed an invitation for new trade talks with the U.S., an editorial in a state-run newspaper Friday warned that China would not cave to pressure.
“The Trump administration should not be mistaken that China will surrender to the U.S. demands. It has enough fuel to drive its economy even if a trade war is prolonged,” the newspaper said in an editorial, according to Reuters.
In Japan, the Nikkei momentarily notched a seven-month high in early trading before pulling back some, driven by gains in electronics stocks, as hopes grow for U.S.-China trade talks and with the yen USDJPY, -0.13% hitting a six-week low of ¥112.08. The Nikkei NIK, +1.20% was last up 0.8%, with Fujifilm 4901, +4.62% jumping 3.8% and Murata Manufacturing 6981, +5.27% gaining 4.3%. Some energy stocks were down after oil’s strong overnight pullback. After bouncing more than 3% this week, further gains may prove tough as the Nikkei has proven unable to stay above 23,000 since early February’s global-market breakdown.
Hong Kong Hang Seng Index HSI, +1.01% jumped 1% after the benchmark ‘s best day in two years Thursday. Tencent 0700, +1.91% rose a further 2% after yesterday’s 5% jump, its best since 2016. Financials started strong, with big insurer AIA 1299, +1.25% climbing 1.5%, and big banks HSBC 0005, +0.52% and ICBC 1398, -0.18% up as well. Macau stocks extended their rebound while CNOOC 0883, -0.68% pulled back 1%.
Chinese stocks were muted following a solid rebound yesterday. The Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, -0.18% was about flat, while the Shenzhen Composite 399106, -0.78% was fractionally lower. The energy sector was off nearly 1% following the pullback in oil prices.
Korea’s Kospi SEU, +1.40% surged more than 1%, as Samsung 005930, +4.09% and Hyundai 005380, +0.78% posted solid gains. Taiwan’s Taiex Y9999, +1.31% rose 0.7%, as Apple AAPL, +0.64% iPhone suppliers Taiwan Semiconductor 2330, +2.35% and Largan Precision 3008, +7.18% advanced.
Australia’s ASX 200 XJO, +0.60% rose 0.5%, while New Zealand’s NZX-50 NZ50GR, +0.24% gained incrementally. Benchmarks in Singapore STI, +0.95% and Indonesia JAKIDX, +1.04% rose as well.