Stocks in Asia Pacific edged up on Wednesday as the U.S. announced a delay in the implementation of tariffs on some Chinese goods.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index regained 199.69 points, or 1%, Wednesday to 20,655.13
In Japan, Taiyo Yuden jumped 6.27% and Murata Manufacturing surged 3.33%. Japan Display, on the other hand, dropped 4.62%. Last week, the embattled display maker announced its 10th straight quarterly loss.
The Japanese yen, often seen as a safe-haven currency, traded at 106.36 against the U.S. dollar after weakening sharply from levels below 105.5 in the previous session.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index recovered 20.98 points, or 0.1%, to 25,302.28. Tensions in Hong Kong remained high after the city’s airport saw disruptions for a second day on Tuesday as a result of protests.
Hong Kong’s Sunny Optical skyrocketed 8.85%, as of its final hour of trading
Over in South Korea, LG Display added 1.58%, while Taiwan’s Pegatron added 0.4% and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company jumped 1.22%.
The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.6779 after jumping from levels below $0.676 yesterday.
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 prospered 16.65 points, or 0.5%, to 3,682.40
The United States Trade Representative announced Tuesday certain products are being removed from the tariff list and will not face additional tariffs of 10%. Other tariffs will be delayed to Dec. 15 for certain goods.
The People’s Bank of China set its official midpoint reference rate for the yuan at 7.0312 per U.S. dollar on Wednesday, stronger than analyst expectations and the fifth consecutive session where the central bank fixed the midpoint at a level weaker than the psychologically important seven-yuan-per-dollar mark.
The onshore yuan last traded at 7.0137 against the greenback, while its offshore counterpart changed hands at 7.0308 per dollar.
The yuan has been closely watched by investors since it weakened past 7 per dollar last week, leading the U.S. Treasury Department to label China a currency manipulator.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics in China on Wednesday showed the country’s industrial output in July rising at its slowest in 17 years.
Industrial output rose 4.8% in July as compared to a year earlier, official data showed — its slowest since February 2002. That was much lower than expectations of a 5.8% growth from a year earlier by analysts.
Retail sales growth was also weaker than expected, rising 7.6% in July from a year earlier. Analysts had expected growth of 8.6%.
In other markets
In Taiwan, the Taiex recouped 65.07 points, or 0.6%, to 10,427.73
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index nicked forward 0.87 points to 3,147.60
The Kospi in Korea resurfaced 65.07 points, or 0.6%, to 1,938.37
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 slumped 5.02 points, or 0.1%, to 10,849.76
In Australia, the ASX 200 gained 27.36 points, or 0.4%, to 6,595.90
