Asian stocks surged on Thursday tracking stellar gains on Wall Street, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on newly implemented reciprocal tariffs, excluding China.
Investors also weighed China’s latest inflation data as trade tensions between Beijing and Washington continued to escalate.
Japan and South Korea led the rebound on Thursday, while other stock markets including Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore also saw substantial gains.
Major U.S stock indexes rallied sharply on Wednesday, while futures tied to these benchmark indexes rose in Asian trading on Thursday.
Trump announces 90-day pause on tariffs; hits China with 125% duties
President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a 90-day pause on hefty reciprocal tariffs on most trading partners soon after their implementation.
In a statement posted on Truth Social, Trump said the pause was a response to direct outreach from numerous governments seeking trade negotiations and a more measured approach to tariff enforcement.
Trump’s administration said the pause will give countries time to engage in bilateral trade talks and avoid long-term disruption to global supply chains.
These developments sent financial markets all over the world surging, with the S&P 500 closing 10% higher, its biggest one-day gain since 2008.
“However, don’t forget that we have been here before with announcements and then we get some pauses, only for the originally announced tariff to be reintroduced again,” ING analysts warned in a note.
Trump took a tougher stance on China, raising tariffs on Chinese imports to 125%, up from previous rates of 104%.
The move follows Beijing’s own escalation on Wednesday when it increased retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods to 84%.
Nikkei surges 9%, KOSPI jumps 6% as tech stocks climb
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index jumped more than 8% as of 03:13 GMT, while TOPIX advanced 7.5%.
The Japanese chipmaker Renesas Electronics Corp (TYO:6723) shares soared 14%.
South Korea’s KOSPI jumped 6%, with tech giants Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (KS:005930) and SK Hynix Inc (KS:000660) jumping 5%, and 10% respectively.
In the previous session, the KOSPI was headed for a bear market territory.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 jumped 4.7%, while Singapore’s Straits Times Index climbed more than 5%.
India’s stock markets were closed for a public holiday.
China stocks jump despite higher US tariffs; CPI data in focus
Despite facing 125% after Trump’s recent announcement, Chinese shares jumped in line with broader markets.
Gains were also aided by state-owned firms boosting equity investments to help stabilize markets. China’s central bank said earlier this week it supported state-owned Central Huijin Investment in boosting its holdings of index funds and will offer re-lending support if needed.
The blue-chip Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 rose 1.2%, while the Shanghai Composite added 1.%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jumped nearly 3%.
For the day, the focus was on the consumer price index (CPI) data showing China’s consumer inflation declined more than anticipated in March, signaling pressure on domestic spending amid a deepening trade conflict with the U.S.
Producer prices also saw a downturn during the month, data showed.
