Asian markets settled mostly higher on Thursday, despite Wall Street’s fall overnight on concern over the economic impact after the US President Donald Trump unveiled a 25% tariff on imported vehicles, expanding a global trade war and testing already strained ties with allies. Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong shares rose led by tech and auto shares. US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would be willing to reduce tariffs to get a deal done with TikTok's Chinese parent ByteDance to sell the short video app used by 170 million Americans. Meanwhile, Chinese major industrial firms’ profits showed improvement in the first 2 months of 2025.
| Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
| Shanghai Composite | 3,373.75 | 5.05 | 0.15 |
| Hang Seng | 23,578.80 | 95.48 | 0.40 |
| Jakarta Composite | 6,510.62 | 38.26 | 0.59 |
| KLSE Composite | 1,535.73 | 17.68 | 1.16 |
| Nikkei 225 | 37,799.97 | -227.32 | -0.60 |
| Straits Times | 3,981.57 | 17.86 | 0.45 |
| KOSPI Composite | 2,607.15 | -36.79 | -1.41 |
| Taiwan Weighted | 21,951.76 | -308.53 | -1.41 |
