Asian Stocks Move Mostly Higher as Trade War Fears Ease

By Investors Hub

Asian stocks moved mostly higher on Thursday as trade war fears eased and investors turned their focus to the U.S. jobs report due Friday for clues to job growth and future moves by the Federal Reserve. The markets in China were closed for Tomb-Sweeping Day.

Japanese stocks saw a relief rally as the yen weakened on improved risk appetite after the United States expressed willingness to negotiate a resolution to an escalating trade conflict with China.

The Nikkei 225 Index jumped 325.87 points or 1.5 percent to 21,645.42, while the broader Topix Index closed 1.1 percent higher at 1,724.61.

Sumitomo Realty & Development, Yamaha, Eisai, DeNA, Nippon Electric Glass, Nissan Chemical Industries and Mitsui Fudosan rose 3-4 percent.

Exporters Honda Motor, Sony and Canon gained 1-2 percent, and banks Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group added around 2 percent each.

Australian shares ended near day’s highs as trade war fears eased and investors bet on improved corporate earnings. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 27.40 points or 0.5 percent to 5,788.80, while the broader All Ordinaries Index ended up 24.30 points or 0.4 percent at 5,888.

The big four banks rose between 1 percent and 1.4 percent. Miners BHP Billiton, Fortescue Metals Group, Rio Tinto and South32 dropped 1-3 percent in light of further losses in Chinese steel and iron ore markets on Wednesday.

Utility AGL Energy lost 1.8 percent after the federal government said the company has a duty to shareholders to consider selling the Liddell coal-fired power station.

Australia posted a merchandise trade surplus of A$825 million in February, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said. That exceeded expectations for a surplus of A$725 million but was down from A$1.055 billion in January.