Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Friday after Taiwan and the United States reached a trade agreement that would see Taiwan invest in the U.S. semiconductor sector.
By 11:55 am AEDT (12:55 am GMT), Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 had gained 0.2% to 8,879.60 points and South Korea’s Kospi 200 had risen 0.5% to 699.77. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.5% to 53,835.74.
The U.S. will cut tariffs on Taiwan from 20% to 15% under the new trade deal.
Taiwan’s semiconductor industry will also invest at least US$250 billion in the U.S. technology sector, the U.S. said, and give $250 billion in credit guarantees to encourage further investment into U.S. chip manufacturing.
Chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) surged past estimates to reach record profits, per its fourth quarter earnings report today.
South Korea’s central bank held rates steady at 2.50% for a fifth consecutive meeting yesterday, meanwhile.
In the United States, the S&P 500 climbed 0.3%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6%, and the Nasdaq Composite increased 0.3% on Thursday.
Brent crude prices fell 4.2% to $63.76 per barrel. Spot gold was down 0.1% to $4,614.93 per ounce.
Taiwan’s TAIEX index fell 0.4% to 30,810.58 yesterday. The Shanghai Composite fell 0.3% to 4,112.60 and the CSI 300 rose 0.2% to 4,751.43.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 0.3% to 26,923.62. India’s BSE Sensex shed 0.3% to 83,382.71 on Wednesday, with trading closed yesterday for Indian local elections.
European markets were mixed, with the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 up 0.5% to 10,238.94. Germany’s DAX climbed 0.3% to 25,352.39 and France’s CAC 40 declined 0.2% to 8,313.12.
