Asia-Pacific markets moved higher on Tuesday as investors responded positively to trade developments between the United States and China, as reports emerged of a provisional deal being reached during a second day of negotiations in London.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, a key architect of President Donald Trump’s trade and tariff strategy, said, “We have reached a framework to implement the Geneva consensus and the call between the two presidents.”
Lutnick confirmed that the draft agreement will now be presented to Presidents Trump and Xi for formal approval.
By 11:10 am AEST (1:10 am GMT), Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 extended record highs, rising 0.4%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.3% and South Korea’s Kospi 200 climbed 0.7%.
In economic news, South Korea’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate held steady at 2.7%. Meanwhile, Japan’s producer price index (PPI) increased by 3.2% in May from a year earlier, marking a slowdown from April’s 4% rise and coming in below expectations.
On a monthly basis, the PPI declined 0.2%, reversing a 0.2% gain in the previous month.
In Australia, ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence edged up by 0.3 points to 86.7 last week. The strongest improvement came in the ‘time to buy a major household item’ subindex, which rose to its highest level since April 2022, likely buoyed by end-of-financial-year sales.
Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both added 0.3%.
In commodities, Brent crude eased 0.3% from recent seven-week highs to settle at US$66.87 per barrel. Spot gold dipped 0.1% to US$3,322.61 per ounce.
Chinese stocks underperformed, with the Shanghai Composite down 0.4% to 3,384.8 and the CSI 300 retreating 0.5% to 3,865.5.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.8% to 24,162.9, and India’s BSE Sensex slipped 0.1% to 82,391.7.
European markets saw mixed results. London’s FTSE 100 edged up 0.2% to 8,853.1, the DAX in Frankfurt slipped 0.8% to 23,987.6, while France’s CAC 40 added 0.2% to 7,804.3.
