Asia report: Most markets rise on easing trade tensions
By Josh White
Date: Wednesday 14 May 2025
(Sharecast News) - Asia-Pacific markets ended mostly higher on Wednesday as investors responded to signs of easing trade tensions between the United States and China, which helped lift sentiment after a positive session on Wall Street.
Gains were broad-based across Greater China and South Korea, while Japan and New Zealand underperformed.
"Asia's main stock indices increased, driven by the technology sector, as investors anticipated earnings reports from major Chinese tech companies this week," said TickMill market strategy partner Patrick Munnelly.
"A gauge of regional tech stocks gained for the fourth consecutive day following a spike in US chipmakers on Tuesday, after Nvidia and AMD announced they would provide semiconductors for a $10bn data centre project with a Saudi Arabian AI firm.
2US equity futures remained mostly stable."
Munnelly noted that Tencent Holdings, China's most valuable company, was set to release its earnings on Wednesday, while Alibaba Group would follow on Thursday.
"These results may shed light on how the foremost companies in the sector are managing amidst a volatile geopolitical landscape and indicate whether Chinese tech stocks might continue to recover.
"Chinese shipping and port stocks rose amid optimism that the easing of the trade conflict between the US and China will lead to a resurgence in shipping demand and freight rates.
"Ningbo Marine, Nanjing Port, and Ningbo Ocean Shipping all surged to the 10% daily limit."
Most markets in the green, Japan and New Zealand fall
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.14% to close at 38,128.13, and the Topix fell 0.32% to 2,763.29.
Losses were led by Idemitsu Kosan, which dropped 7.72%, followed by Sapporo Holdings down 6.51% and Isuzu Motors down 6.11%.
Chinese equities rose sharply - the Shanghai Composite advanced 0.86% to 3,403.95, while the Shenzhen Component climbed 0.64% to 10,354.22.
Shipping and chemical stocks outperformed, with Cosco Shipping Development surging 10.13%, Ningbo Marine up 10.12%, and Jiangsu Sanfangxiang Industry rising 10.05%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 2.3% to 23,640.65.
Insurance and healthcare stocks led the rally, with China Life Insurance rising 6.55%, AIA Group up 5.15%, and JD Health International gaining 5.13%.
South Korea's Kospi 100 jumped 1.29% to 2,634.02, led by a 29.94% surge in Hanjinkal.
Hanwha Solutions rose 10.83%, while SKC added 5.8%.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.13% to 8,279.60, as Appen gained 5.41%, Zip Co rose 5.04%, and Mineral Resources advanced 3.99%.
New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 slipped 0.06% to 12,779.26.
Pacific Edge fell 4.76%, Vital Healthcare Property Trust declined 3.11%, and Oceania Healthcare lost 2.99%.
In currency markets, the dollar was last down 0.75% on the yen, trading at JPY 146.38, as it weakened 0.43% against the Aussie to AUD 1.5387, and retreated 0.29% from the Kiwi, changing hands at NZD 1.6793.
Oil prices moved lower, with Brent crude futures last down 0.66% on ICE at $66.19 per barrel, and the NYMEX quote for West Texas Intermediate falling 0.64% to $63.26.
Unemployment falls for fourth consecutive month in South Korea
In economic news, unemployment in South Korea fell to 2.9% in April, its lowest level since November 2024, marking a fourth consecutive monthly decline.
On a seasonally-adjusted basis, the jobless rate eased to 2.7%, down from 2.9% in March.
According to national statistics data, the economically-active population rose 0.6% year on year to 29.74 million, while the labour force participation rate edged up 0.1 percentage points to 65.1%.
In India, cooling inflation is increasing expectations of monetary easing.
Headline inflation declined for a sixth straight month to 3.16% in April, down from 3.34% in March and below the 3.27% forecast in a Reuters poll.
Citing the trend, Barclays said it now anticipated the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee would cut interest rates by 25 basis points in June, bringing forward its previous forecast for a reduction in August.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
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