U.S.-China trade talks, Trump tariffs
Shipping containers and gantry cranes beyond a fishing boat near the Yangshan Deepwater Port in Shanghai, China, on Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific stocks mostly climbed after China’s central bank and financial regulators announced sweeping plans to cut key interest rates in an effort to shore up growth in the face of trade worries.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.5% while mainland China’s CSI 300 climbed 0.61% to close at 3,831.63.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 0.14% to close at 36,779.66 while the Topix rose 0.31% to close at 2,696.16. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.55% to close at 2,573.8 while the small-cap Kosdaq lost 0.13% to close at 722.81.
Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.33% to close at 8,171.3.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and trade representative Jamieson Greer are set to meet with their Chinese counterparts this week.
Asian currencies strengthened against the dollar amid depressed confidence in the greenback.
“We are seeing a clear dislocation in terms of the USD’s normal trading relationships, and this correlation breakdown suggests that investors are reducing their exposures to the USD and repatriating capital to their home markets,” said Peter Kinsella, global head of forex strategy at Union Bancaire Privee.
Global non-U.S. investors are reducing allocations to the dollar and dollar-denominated assets, added the forex strategist. “The moves that we are seeing in several Asian currencies reflect this phenomenon, and I expect that it will continue.”
Bessent and Greer are set to hold talks with Chinese officials in Switzerland this week to address trade and economic issues.
The discussions mark a potential turning point in de-escalating the trade tensions ignited by Trump, who last month raised tariffs on Chinese goods to 145% while easing levies on most other countries. In response, China imposed heavy tariffs on U.S. products.
U.S. stock futures advanced Tuesday night as investors monitored the latest updates on U.S. trade negotiations and looked toward the Federal Reserve interest rate announcement expected Wednesday afternoon. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 280 points, or 0.7%. S&P 500 futures popped 0.8%, while Nasdaq 100 futures rallied 1%.
Overnight stateside, the three major averages closed lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 389.83 points, or 0.95%, to close at 40,829.00. The S&P 500 shed 0.77% and settled at 5,606.91, and the Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.87% to end at 17,689.66. All three of the major averages posted back-to-back declines.
— CNBC’s Hakyung Kim and Pia Singh contributed to this report.
