World shares rise, buoyed by hopes for more trade deal after the U.S.-Japan tariff pact
MANILA, Philippines — World shares rose Thursday, buoyed by optimism that the U.S.-Japan tariff agreement announced a day earlier will be followed by more trade deals.
Later Thursday, the European Central Bank was expected to hold off on making another interest rate cut as it waits to measure the size of any economic blow from higher U.S. tariffs.
U.S. President Donald Trump has sent the EU a letter laying out a 30% tariff rate, but European trade officials are hoping to haggle that down to as low as 10%.
Separately, European leaders called for concrete progress in addressing the bloc's yawning trade deficit with China at a summit with President Xi Jinping in the Chinese capital on Thursday.
In early European trading, Germany's DAX rose 0.8% to 24,430.74. In Paris, the CAC 40 added 0.2% to 7,862.52, while Britain's FTSE 100 climbed 1% to 9,150.50.
The future for S&P 500 added less than 0.1% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.3%.
Trump has proposed stiff taxes on imports from around the world, which carry the double-edged risk of driving up inflation while slowing economies. But many of his tariffs are on pause, giving time to reach deals with other countries that could lower the tax rates. Trump also announced trade agreements with the Philippines and Indonesia this week.
Japan's Nikkei 225 surged 1.6% to 41,826.34. It had jumped 3.5% a day earlier on enthusiasm over the trade deal with Washington, which would raise U.S. import duties on most exports from Japan to 15% from 2.5%, instead of the 25% Trump had threatened to impose.
The Shanghai Composite Index added 0.7% to 3,605.73, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.5% to 25,667.18.
South Korea's Kospi added 0.2% to 3,190.45, shedding some of its earlier gains, after central bank data showed Thursday that the country's economy expanded at a 0.6% annual rate in the last quarter, above expectations thanks to robust private consumption and exports.
Australia's S&P ASX 200 slid 0.3% to 8,709.40. Taiwan's Taiex gained 0.2% while India's BSE Sensex shed 0.7%.
'Asian equities caught another updraft, rising for a sixth straight session, as whispers of broader trade accords scattered across the tape like migrating birds sensing the storm has passed,' Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management wrote in a commentary.
'With the ink barely dry on the U.S.-Japan tariff truce — inked at a palatable 15% — traders are already scanning the horizon for the next deal to surface. Europe? Maybe. India? China? Everyone? Perhaps. But the mood is pure Electric Avenue,' he added.
The Nomura Group, in a research report, said the tariff rates set by the U.S. for Indonesia and the Philippines, at 19%, 'are fairly high and therefore pose downside risks to their respective growth outlooks.' It estimated the direct effects could reduce GDP growth by 0.2 percentage point in Indonesia and 0.4 percentage point in the Philippines.
Still, most markets across the region advanced.
On Wednesday, U.S. stocks set more records following a trade deal between the world's No. 1 and No. 4 economies, one that would lower proposed tariffs on Japanese imports coming to the United States.
The S&P 500 added 0.8% to its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 507 points, or 1.1%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.6% to hit its own record.
So far, the U.S. economy has seemed to hold up OK despite the pressures on it. And tariffs already in place may be having less of an effect than expected, at least when it comes to the prices that U.S. households are paying at the moment.
In other dealings on Thursday, U.S. benchmark crude oil added 90 cents to US$66.15 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 84 cents to $69.35 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar climbed to 146.60 Japanese yen from 146.51 yen. The euro slid to $1.1751 from $1.1777.
Teresa Cerojano, The Associated Press
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