Asian markets had a largely uneventful Thursday, as investors wait for more developments on how Trump’s trade negotiations with trading partners are proceeding.
Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 1.1%, its third straight day of gains. Mainland China’s CSI 300 rose 0.2%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.5%, as Japan embarks on a new round of trade negotiations with the U.S. ahead of a G7 summit in Canada.
“Japan will continue to strongly urge the US to reconsider its series of tariff measures,” lead trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa told reporters Thursday, as he left for Washington.
Japanese manufacturers fell more sharply in Thursday trading, with automaker Toyota dropping by 2.7%. Video gaming giant Nintendo, which launched its successor Switch 2 console today, fell by 2.0%.
South Korea’s KOSPI index rose 1.5% on Thursday. The index is now up 4% since the country’s elections on Tuesday, when voters elected center-left candidate Lee Myung to the presidency, ending months of political uncertainty.
S&P 500 futures are up 0.2% as of 4:30am Eastern time. The STOXX Europe 600 is also up by around 0.2%. India’s NIFTY 50 is up by almost 0.5%.
U.S. tariff tensions
The world is waiting for further developments on trade negotiations between Washington and its many trading partners, including Beijing.
Washington, in recent days, has grumbled about China’s control of rare earth mineral exports.
China is the source of about 70% of rare earth metals, key to cars, chips, and other products.
U.S. officials complain that China has been slow to reopen exports after last month’s agreement in Geneva. (The U.S. maintains its own export control regime against China, particularly around semiconductors)
Early Wednesday morning, U.S. President Donald Trump complained in a social media post that Xi was “very tough, and extremely hard to make a deal with!”
The U.S. is also negotiating with several other trading partners, including the U.K., the EU, South Korea, India and Vietnam.
