Asian equity markets ended mostly higher on Monday after the US and China agreed to put the trade war on hold and set up a framework for addressing trade imbalances in the future. Chinese stocks rose after the US and China made meaningful progress in two days of high-level talks. Japanese shares ended higher as the dollars’ rise against the yen supported some exporters after news of easing US-China trade tensions. Further, a solid trade balance data also helped lift Japanese shares. Japan posted a merchandise trade surplus of 625.977 billion yen in April, the Ministry of Finance said - up 30.9 percent on year. The headline figure exceeded expectations for a surplus of 440.0 billion yen following the downwardly revised 797.0 billion yen surplus in March (originally 797.3 billion yen).
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,213.84 | 20.54 | 0.64 |
Hang Seng | 31,234.35 | 186.44 | 0.60 |
Jakarta Composite | 5,733.86 | -49.45 | -0.86 |
KLSE Composite | 1,853.58 | -0.92 | -0.05 |
Nikkei 225 | 23,002.37 | 72.01 | 0.31 |
Straits Times | 3,548.23 | 18.96 | 0.54 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,465.57 | 4.92 | 0.20 |
Taiwan Weighted | 10,966.20 | 135.36 | 1.25 |
