Stocks in Asia traded higher on Monday afternoon after U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement last week that tariffs would not be slapped on Mexican goods.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 ballooned 249.71 points, or 1.2%, to close the week’s first session at 21,134.42.
The Japanese yen traded at 108.60 against the U.S. dollar after touching levels below 108.0 last week.
Data on Monday showed that Japan’s economy grew at a slightly higher annualized rate than initially estimated —2.2% in the January to March period, as compared to economists’ median forecast of 2.1% growth.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng returned from a long weekend in a big way, tacking on 613.36 points, or 2.3%, to 27,578.66
South Korea’s Kospi also rose, with shares of chipmaker SK Hynix gaining more than 1.5%.
South Korea’s Kia Motors surged as much as 4%, while Japan’s Toyota bounced 1.56%, and Nissan rose 0.96%. Mexico is used as a production base by many Japanese automakers.
The Australian dollar, whose fortunes are often seen to be closely tied to that of China given the two countries’ trade relationship, changed hands at $0.6970 U.S. following an earlier high of $0.7022.
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 galloped 46.06 points, or 1.3%, to 3,610.74, as shares of Chinese tech giant Tencent soared 2.9%.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who has been among the lead negotiators involved in trade talks with China, told the media on Sunday that Trump will decide on whether to implement more tariffs on China after the American leader meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping later in June.
Moreover, official Chinese trade data for May showed the country’s exports beating forecasts and imports falling short of expectations, leaving it with an overall trade surplus of $41.65 billion for the month.
May exports in China rose 1.1% as compared to a year earlier against expectations of a 3.8% decline by analysts in a Reuters poll. Imports, which were also expected to fall 3.8%, dropped 8.5% instead.
The onshore Chinese yuan touched its lowest point in 2019 following the data release. It last traded at 6.9334 against the dollar, while its offshore counterpart also declined to 6.9523 against the greenback.
In other markets
In other markets
Markets in Australia were shuttered for holidays.
In Korea, the Kospi index gained 27.16 points, or 1.3%, to 2,099.49
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index added 21.82 points, or 0.7%, to 3,188.11
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index popped 157.27 points, or 1.5%, to 10.566.47.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 weakened 20.21 points, or 0.2%, to 10,027.61
