Asian shares rise, tracking Wall Street gains
Asian stocks mostly rose, following Wall Street, after US President Donald Trump backed away from imposing tariffs on eight European countries over Greenland and refused to use military force to seize control of the region.
The future of the Dow Jones Industrial Average was nearly flat on Thursday, while the future of the S&P 500 gained less than 0.1 percent.
Tokyo Nikkei 225 index increased by 1.7 percent to 53,688.89 points, while technology stocks led the rise. SoftBank Group 11.6 percent, equipment maker Disco Corp. gained 17.1 percent in value.
Advantest, which produces testing equipment for computer chips, rose 5%.
In South Korea, Kospi closed at 4,952.44 points, with an increase of 0.9 percent, after passing the 5,000 point for the first time, which was welcomed by investors.
Technology-related stocks led the rise. Shares of chip maker SK Hynix gained 2.2 percent, while Samsung Electronics gained 1.9 percent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose less than 0.1 percent to 26,600.68. Shanghai Composite Index increased by 0.1 percent to 4,122.58 points.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 increased by approximately 0.8 percent to 8,848.70 points, while Taiwan’s Taiex index increased by 1.6 percent and India’s Sensex index increased by 0.2 percent.
U.S. markets posted their biggest losses since October on Tuesday as investors reacted to Trump’s threat over the weekend to impose 10 percent tariffs on Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland for opposing U.S. control of Greenland. This has raised concerns about worsening relations between the United States and its European allies.
But Trump, who attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, backtracked on Wednesday and said he would not use force to take Greenland.
The US president also said in a post on the social media site that he had agreed with the NATO chief on “the framework for a future agreement” on Greenland and Arctic security.
The decrease in tensions increased optimism on Wall Street. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 rose 1.2 percent to 6,875 points. While the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 1.2 percent to 49,077.23 points, the Nasdaq composite increased by 1.2 percent compared to the same period of the previous year, to 23,224.82 points.
Oilfield services company Halliburton rose 4.1 percent after posting stronger-than-expected profits in the latest quarter. United Airlines also rose 2.2 percent after better-than-expected quarterly profits. Netflix fell 2.2 percent as investors focused on factors such as a slowdown in subscriber numbers despite reporting stronger-than-expected profits.
The gold price fell 0.2 percent to $4,828.70 per ounce; This reflects investor concerns easing after it broke through $4,800 before Trump reversed his stance on Greenland as many flocked to safe-haven assets.
In the bond market, U.S. Treasury yields also fell as fear among investors eased and turmoil in Japan’s bond market calmed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell from 4.30 percent to 4.25 percent at the end of Tuesday.
The US dollar’s rise from 158.27 yen to 158.75 Japanese yen has led analysts to speculate that authorities may intervene if the yen falls further.
The euro rose from $1.1687 to $1.1692.
U.S. benchmark crude oil fell 16 cents to $60.46 per barrel. Brent crude oil, the international standard, fell 24 cents to $65.00 a barrel.
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