HONG KONG (AP) - Asian shares experienced a mixed performance on Thursday following a day of record-setting gains on Wall Street. Investors closely monitored the results of a crucial summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, which took place in Beijing. The two leaders discussed important matters concerning U.S.-China relations and the situation in Taiwan, although analysts did not foresee any significant breakthroughs arising from their discussions.
In the early trading session, U.S. futures showed a slight upward trend. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose by 0.3%, settling at 63,448.87 after briefly reaching a record intraday high above 63,700, buoyed in part by strong corporate earnings reports. Similarly, South Korea’s Kospi index increased by 0.5%, reaching 7,884.71, partly driven by the performance of technology-related stocks.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index observed a gain of 0.7% to 26,584.88. In contrast, the Shanghai Composite index fell by 0.9%, closing at 4,204.41. Meanwhile, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged down slightly by less than 0.1% to 8,627.80. Taiwan's Taiex index climbed by 0.6%, and India’s Sensex rose by 0.5% during the trading day.
Oil prices also showed an upward trend amidst concerns regarding the ongoing war in Iran, which has persisted for over two months. Some analysts speculated that the Trump-Xi meeting might lead to positive outcomes, particularly after U.S. officials indicated that Beijing could leverage its economic ties with Tehran to advocate for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent crude, which serves as the international standard, rose by 0.4%, reaching $106.04 per barrel. This increase comes in stark contrast to the pre-war price, which hovered around $70 per barrel before hostilities began in February. The rise in oil prices was further supported by a report from the International Energy Agency, which indicated that supply disruptions from the Strait were depleting global oil inventories at an unprecedented pace. Similarly, benchmark U.S. crude experienced a 0.4% increase, reaching $101.43 per barrel.
Alongside oil market developments, investors are keeping a keen eye on updates related to China’s imports of Nvidia’s advanced H200 chips. The significant presence of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, alongside other top executives such as Tesla’s Elon Musk and Apple’s Tim Cook, during Trump’s China trip raised expectations regarding potential trade agreements.
On the preceding Wednesday, technology stocks played a pivotal role in driving gains for Wall Street. The benchmark S&P 500 index rose by 0.6% to 7,444.25, marking yet another all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average saw a marginal decline of 0.1%, closing at 49,693.20. In contrast, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite achieved a solid 1.2% increase to reach 26,402.34, setting its own record in the process.
In the bond market, the yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury fell slightly to 4.46% from 4.47%. However, this yield remains considerably elevated compared to the approximate 3.97% seen before the onset of the Iran war. The previous day also marked a surge in U.S. wholesale prices for April, attributed largely to the energy shock resulting from the conflict in Iran.
Additionally, on Wednesday, the U.S. Senate confirmed Kevin Warsh as Trump’s nominee to lead the Federal Reserve, succeeding Jerome Powell. Trump had frequently criticized Powell for not implementing quicker and more profound rate cuts.
Amid these financial developments, the U.S. dollar experienced a slight decline, trading at 157.85 Japanese yen compared to 157.86 yen the previous day. The euro was also on the rise, trading at $1.1715, up from $1.1711.
