A day after Asian stocks sank after the Trump administration announced $200 billion in new tariffs against Chinese goods, markets strongly rebounded in early trading Thursday, with investors around the region apparently gaining optimism from a 1%-plus bounce by Chinese indexes.
Both the Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, +1.80% and the smaller-cap Shenzhen Composite 399106, +2.27% were up more than 1.2%, largely making up Wednesday’s losses. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI, +0.67% gained as well, with ZTE 0763, +22.62% shares skyrocketing after the Chinese telecom was poised to resume doing business with U.S. suppliers. China’s state-run shipper Cosco 2866, +0.82% was up almost 1%.
Despite the yen hitting six-month lows against the dollar
USDJPY, +0.26%
, domestic-driven stocks were leading the way in Japan, reflecting investors’ caution about cyclical stocks. The Nikkei
NIK, +1.11%
was up 1.1%, led by drug maker Eisai
4523, +7.46%
, while beverages firm Yakult Honsha
2267, +3.50%
and diaper maker Unicharm
8113, +2.96%
jumped as well. Energy stocks, however, skidded following oil’s overnight slump. Explorer Inpex
1605, -3.09%
and distributor JXTG
5020, -3.92%
were both off more than 3%.
In South Korea, the Kospi SEU, +0.66% rose slightly despite tech-sector declines, dragged by Samsung 005930, +0.43% and SK Hynix 000660, -1.15% .
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 XJO, +0.88% steadily gained steam toward a 1% gain despite the overnight slump in oil prices. Shares of Oil Search OSH, -0.11% dropped early, but recovered as the trading day went on. Markets in Taiwan Y9999, +0.54% , Singapore STI, +0.13% and Malaysia FBMKLCI, +0.31% also posted gains. New Zealand’s NZX-50 NZ50GR, -0.06% was the only regional index in the red, down just a fraction.
