Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Thursday as investors monitored a high-profile meeting between United States President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping for indications on the future direction of U.S.-China relations and global trade policy.
Trump arrived in Beijing on Wednesday for the closely watched summit, accompanied by several prominent U.S. business leaders, including Tesla chief executive Elon Musk and Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang.
According to CNBC reporting, analysts at Goldman Sachs expect discussions between Trump and Xi to remain narrowly focused on trade and export controls, including tariffs, rare earth restrictions and semiconductor regulations, rather than delivering a broad reset in bilateral relations.
“While unlikely to be a game changer for U.S.-China relations, we think the meeting could act as a tactical catalyst for strength in the Chinese yuan and Chinese equities,” Goldman analysts wrote in a note released late Wednesday.
By 11:00 am AEST (1:00 am GMT), Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.1%, South Korea’s KOSPI 200 rose 1.1%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.6% to trade at fresh record highs.
On Wall Street overnight, U.S. markets finished mixed as technology stocks continued to outperform broader indices.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down 0.1%, while the S&P 500 rose 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.2%.
In commodity markets, ICE Brent crude fell 2% to settle at US$105.63 a barrel on Wednesday, while spot gold declined 0.6% to $4,687.55 an ounce.
Chinese equities extended gains on Wednesday, with the Shanghai Composite Index rising 0.7% to 4,242.6, marking its highest close since July 2015. The CSI 300 Index gained 1% to 4,998.3, its strongest finish since December 2021.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.2% to 26,388.4, while India’s BSE Sensex edged 0.1% higher to 74,609.0.
European markets also finished higher overnight. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.6% to 10,325.4, Germany’s DAX gained 0.8% to 24,136.8, and France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.4% to 8,008.0.
