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HONG KONG – Asian markets experienced a general uptick on Thursday, buoyed by Wall Street’s performance, following U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to retract tariffs targeting eight European nations over Greenland and his assurance against using military force concerning the territory.
On Thursday, the futures for the S&P 500 increased by 0.4%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures saw a 0.3% rise.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 surged by 1.9%, reaching 53,760.85, with technology stocks leading the charge. SoftBank Group saw an impressive 11% boost, and Tokyo Electron, a major player in the semiconductor industry, climbed 3.7%.
South Korea’s Kospi index jumped 2% to 5,008.08, marking its first crossing over the 5,000 threshold after setting new records earlier this month. Technology stocks were pivotal in this ascent, with Samsung Electronics gaining 3.3% and SK Hynix advancing by 2.3%.
Conversely, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dipped slightly by 0.2% to 26,531.29, while the Shanghai Composite index decreased by nearly 0.2%, ending at 4,110.86.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 traded 0.7% higher to 8,841.70.
Taiwan’s Taiex jumped 2%, while India’s Sensex rose 0.7%.
U.S. markets logged t heir biggest losses since October on Tuesday as investors reacted to Trump’s threat over the weekend to slap tariffs of 10% on Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland for opposing U.S. control of Greenland, sparking concerns over worsening relationships between the U.S. and its European allies.
But Trump, attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, backed down on Wednesday and said he would not use force to acquire Greenland. The U.S. president also said in a post on his social media site that he had agreed with the head of NATO on a “framework of a future deal” on Greenland and on Arctic security.
The easing tensions drove Wall Street optimism. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 climbed 1.2% to 6,875. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.2% to 49,077.23, while the Nasdaq composite also rose 1.2%, to 23,224.82.
Halliburton, the oil field services company, jumped 4.1% following stronger-than-expected profits for the latest quarter. United Airlines rose 2.2% also after better-than-expected quarterly profits. Netflix fell 2.2% even as it reported a stronger profit than expected, as investors focused on factors including a slowing growth of subscribers.
The price of gold fell 0.9% to $4,794.70 per ounce, reflecting investors’ reduced worries, after it passing the $4,800 mark on Wednesday ahead of Trump’s reversal of stance on Greenland as many flocked to safe-haven assets.
In the bond market, U.S. Treasury yields also eased following lessened fear among investors as well as a calming of Japan’s bond market turmoil. Japan’s long-term bond yields had surged earlier to records, following its prime minister Sanae Takaichi’s decision to call a snap election in February, which sparked concerns over acceleration of her pledges to cut taxes and increase spending which could increase government burden.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.25% from 4.30% late Tuesday.
In other dealings early Thursday, U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 0.3% to $60.79 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 0.2% to $65.35 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar rose to 158.54 Japanese yen from 158.27 yen. The euro was mostly unchanged at $1.1693.
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AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.
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