Asia-Pacific markets advanced on Monday following a decision by United States President Donald Trump to pause planned tariffs on a range of consumer electronics, lifting investor sentiment across the region.
By 11 am AEST (1 am GMT), Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.6%, South Korea’s Kospi 200 added 0.9%, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.5%.
On the economic front, Singapore eased its monetary policy for the second consecutive time in response to slowing growth, with the Monetary Authority of Singapore noting that the board will continue with the policy of a modest and gradual appreciation of the Singapore dollar nominal effective exchange rate (S$NEER) policy band.
Meanwhile, preliminary estimates showed the city-state’s economy expanded by just 3.8% in the first quarter, below analysts’ expectations of 4.2%.
Investor optimism was also supported by a strong Wall Street session on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 1.6%, the S&P 500 gained 1.8%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.1%.
In commodities, Brent crude oil rose 2.3% to US$64.76 per barrel, while spot gold hit record highs, climbing 2% to US$3,237.93 per ounce.
Chinese markets also saw moderate gains. The Shanghai Composite edged up 0.5% to 3,238.2, and the CSI 300 added 0.4% to 3,750.5. Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.1% to 20,914.7, and India’s BSE Sensex advanced 1.8% to 75,157.3.
In Europe, trading ended mixed. The UK’s FTSE 100 rose 0.6% to 7,964.2, while Germany’s DAX dropped 0.9% to 20,374.1 and France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.3% to 7,104.8.
