The Asian markets seemed to have been mostly unaffected by US President Donald Trump’s tariff imposition on imports that took effect early Thursday as shares mostly advanced.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.6 per cent to 41,025.76; Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 0.6 per cent to 25,057.84 and the Shanghai Composite added 0.1 per cent to 3,637.96.
South Korea's Kospi also rose 0.6 per cent to 3,217.67. The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia however shed 0.2 per cent to 8,828.70.
China said its exports picked up in July as businesses taking advantage of a pause in Trump's tariff war with Beijing increased their shipments.
Also Read: Stock markets close lower amid mixed global trends
India, which was dealt the shocking blow of 50 per cent tariff imposition on its exports by Trump on Wednesday, saw a market slump by 0.6 per cent in early Thursday trade.
Meanwhile, another surprise announcement by the US President was the declaration of 100 per cent tariffs on computer chips, unless companies commit to producing them in the US. Analysts saw this as an opportunity by trade partners to use investments as a bargaining chip.
Apple's shares rose 5.1 per cent on Wednesday after it pledged an additional $100 billion in investments in the US over the next four years.
With market heavyweight Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. shares surging 4.9 per cent, Taiwan's Taiex also jumped 2.4 per cent.
TSMC is the world’s largest contract-maker of computer chips and it has been ramping up its investments in US factory capacity, helping to alleviate the impact from higher tariffs.
Also Read: Sensex, Nifty slip as Trump adds tariffs; experts urge caution
South Korean chipmakers also saw strong gains, with Samsung Electronics jumping 2.1 per cent after the government said its products would also be subject to the exemption.
Wednesday also saw US tocks reclaims some of their losses from last week after a sharp rally for Apple.
The S&P 500 rose 0.7 per cent to 6,345.06; the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2 per cent to 44,193.12; and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.2 per cent to 21,169.42.
Apple alone accounted for more than a third of the S&P 500's gain.
Besides this, trading on Wall Street was mixed. McDonald's and Shopify rose following their latest updates, while Super Micro Computer tumbled after its earnings and revenue was below analysts' expectations.
The Walt Disney Co. also fell after its revenue fell short. Trump’s tariffs have investors worried, but hopeful that the Federal Reserve may soon announce interest rate cuts to salvage the losses. Stronger-than-expected profit reports from many US companies have also contributed to steadying the stock market despite losses.
In other dealings early Thursday, benchmark US crude climbed 44 cents to $64.79 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 42 cents to $67.31 a barrel.
The U.S. dollar slipped to 147.33 Japanese yen from 147.36 yen. The euro cost $1.1670, up from $1.1661.
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