Visits: 2
Asia markets made a turnaround on Wednesday afternoon to trade largely in positive territory, following the White House’s restatement of its tough stance on trade.
The Nikkei 225 recovered from its losses in the morning to trade higher by 0.15 percent. The Topix index, on the other hand, rose from its earlier low but remained lower by 0.48 percent.
Down Under, the ASX 200 pared some of its gains but was still higher by 0.11 percent, with major miner Rio Tinto advancing by 1.26 percent while BHP Billiton traded higher by 1.14 percent.
In Greater China markets, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index extended its earlier gains to rise by 1.64 percent. Hotpot chain Haidilao, which went public on Wednesday, saw its stock up 2.81 percent as compared to its issue price of $17.80 per share.
The Shanghai composite was also higher by 1.27 percent while the Shenzhen composite advanced by 0.75 percent.
South Korean markets are closed for a public holiday.
In market action on Wall Street overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by 69.84 points to 26,492.21 while the S&P 500 ended the trading day 0.1 percent lower at 2,915.56. The Nasdaq Composite, however, saw a gain of 0.2 percent to 8,007.47 on the back of advances in Amazon and Apple shares.
On Tuesday, U.S President Donald Trump reiterated his administration’s stance on trade, telling the United Nations General Assembly that his country would “no longer tolerate abuse” on that front.
Trump’s statement came after U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said his country was ready to move ahead on a trade deal with Mexico even if it excluded Canada, as negotiations with Ontario remained at an impasse. “We’re not going to say ‘no deal because of Canada.’ That doesn’t make any sense at all,” he told the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies, was at 94.140 as of 12:14 p.m. HK/SIN, losing its earlier gains but still off yesterday’s lows.
The Japanese yen traded largely flat at 112.94 against the dollar, while the Australian dollar held on to gains of 0.28 percent at $0.7270, as of 12:12 p.m. HK/SIN.
In oil markets, prices saw a partial recovery but remained lower in the afternoon of Asian trade. The global benchmark Brent crude futures was slightly lower at $81.81 per barrel while U.S. crude futures was still 0.18 percent lower at $72.15 per barrel.
On Tuesday, Trump told the U.N. General Assembly that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is “ripping off the rest of the world.”