ISTANBUL
Asian stocks closed with gains Thursday after the US President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause to his higher tariffs on all nations, except China.
Starting last week, stocks saw steep falls after Trump imposed higher tariffs on over 180 nations, ranging from 10% to 50%.
But a sigh of relief came Wednesday after Trump’s latest decision to pause his “reciprocal tariffs” for 90 days for all countries except China. He said he was raising the tariff rate on China to 125%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index soared 9.13% or 2,894.97 points to close at 34,609.
The Asia Dow, which tracks leading blue-chip companies across the region, jumped 5.94% to 3,868.32 points as of 1010GMT.
The Hang Seng Index, a key benchmark for Hong Kong’s blue-chip stocks, was up 2.06% to 20,681.78 points. China’s Shanghai Stock Exchange earned 1.16% to 3,223.64 points.
ButIndia’s Sensex index dropped by 0.51% to 73,847.15.
Trump also said of the standoff with Beijing: “China wants to make a deal. They just don’t know how quick to go about it.”
China said Thursday that the US is exerting “maximum pressure” and using tariffs as a “weapon,” vowing not to give into Washington’s latest trade moves.
Beijing will not fear the US’ “selfish” moves, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters, adding that Beijing’s response “will continue until the end.”
