Asian markets settled mostly higher on Thursday tracking Wall Street’s gains overnight, and as US President Donald Trump's sweeping new tariffs take effect against dozens of countries. Moreover, Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut bets, hopes for a Sino-US trade deal and better-than-expected China's July exports data have also supported market sentiments. Data showed that China’s exports climbed 7.2% in July in US dollar terms from a year earlier and beat forecasts of a 5.4% increase, while imports grew 4.1% on an annual basis despite market estimates of a 1% fall in the month. Japanese shares advanced after worries about the impact of US tariffs eased, and increased investor optimism about strong performance of domestic firms. Seoul shares gained, led by gains in technology and auto shares after Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo said Korea will be treated as a most favored nation by the United States in terms of semiconductor exports under the bilateral tariff deal.
| Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
| Shanghai Composite | 3,639.67 | 5.68 | 0.16 |
| Hang Seng | 24,999.00 | 88.37 | 0.35 |
| Jakarta Composite | 7,490.18 | -13.57 | -0.18 |
| KLSE Composite | 1,549.11 | 7.63 | 0.49 |
| Nikkei 225 | 41,023.00 | 228.14 | 0.56 |
| Straits Times | 4,258.15 | 30.45 | 0.72 |
| KOSPI Composite | 3,227.68 | 29.54 | 0.92 |
| Taiwan Weighted | 24,003.77 | 556.41 | 2.32 |
