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StreetAccount Summary - Asian Market Recap: Nikkei +9.13%, Hang Seng +2.06%, Shanghai Composite +1.16% as of 04:10 ET

Apr 10 ,2025

  • Synopsis:

    • Asian equities rallied across the region Thursday: Strongest gains in those markets worst hit in the selloff such as Taiwan's Taiex, Japan's two main boards and South Korea's Kospi. Strong gains in Australia and Singapore, Vietnam's HNX benchmark also bounced back strongly. India closed for a holiday. US futures lower, Europe higher as it catches up with tariff news. US dollar lower as DXY falls back below 103, AUD gave up early gains, yen strengthening again, onshore yuan at fresh multi-year low. Treasuries and JGBs mixed. Crude futures mixed with WTI almost 3% lower but Brent gaining. Precious metals higher as gold re-approaches record highs. Base metals rallying. Cryptocurrencies lower.

    • Asia equities bounced back from several torrid days as President Trump backed down over his tariff program and granted a 90-day reprieve for most countries. However, his 10% baseline, and steel, aluminum and automotive tariffs remained while he also hiked tariffs on China imports to 125%. Analysts noted these still placed average US tariffs at their highest since just before WWII. China had earlier Wednesday raised import taxes on US products to 84% but also said it was open to dialogue. Meanwhile, other Asia nations continued their responses with Vietnam and Taiwan offering to eliminate tariffs on US products, and Japan and South Korea readying envoys to begin negotiations. The ASEAN trade bloc also said it would seek talks with Washington.

    • In other developments, China consumer inflation contracted again in March with food the main drag. Core inflation rebounded but PPI deflation worsened again. Japan's ruling coalition has begun talks on stimulus package in response to US tariffs. The Philippines central bank cut its base rate by 25 bps to 5.5%, as widely expected, and signaled more cuts were to come. Thailand's consumer confidence fell to a five month low in March on tariff concerns, and Indonesia's finance minister Indrawati said US tariffs could hurt FY growth by up to 0.5%.

    • Nintendo (7974.JP) has postponed the launch of its Switch2 console in China in response to Beijing's tight controls surrounding the gaming industry. CATL (300750.CH) is to gain approval from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for its $5B listing, still scheduled for some time in Q2, according to Reuters sources. TSMC (2330.TT) said quarterly revenue rose 42% y/y reflecting ongoing demand for AI servers and smartphones, its fastest quarterly sales growth. Keppel Ltd (BN4.SP) is considering selling its stake in 800 Super Holdings that could value the company at around S$600M ($448M).

  • Digest:

    • Trump declares 90-day pause on tariff hikes, but hits China with 125%:

      • US President Trump announced on Truth Social the tariff rate imposed on China will be lifted to 125% from 104% effective immediately. In contrast, noted that more than 75 countries have lined up for trade negotiations and have refrained from retaliation, granting a 90-day pause, lowering the tariff rate to the baseline 10% also effective immediately. Announcement came in the early afternoon Wednesday, several hours after higher duties went into effect after the midnight deadline. In response, China raised its tariffs on US imports to 84%, effective 12:01 BST Thursday (Xinhua). Trump said at the Oval Office that he doesn't think US will have to raise levies on China further to force negotiations, which he anticipates will happen at "some point" (Bloomberg). Also revealed he was mulling a pare back for other countries over the last few days in discussions with Treasury Secretary Bessent and Commerce Secretary Lutnick, leading to a decision early Wednesday morning. Follows denials from Trump and allies in preceding days they were considering a blanket pause. White House official noted separate tariffs (steel, aluminum, autos, Canada/Mexico) will stand. Trump reaffirmed intention to apply pharma duties. Will consider exemptions for some US companies that he deems are victims of collateral damage.

    • Beijing remains open to dialogue with US, but conditional on equal footing and won't sit idle:

      • State Council published a White Paper on US-China trade issues that essentially reinforced Beijing's long-held stance (Xinhua). Criticized recent US actions as isolationist and coercive, defying principles of market economy and multilateralism, and warned this will have serious repercussions for bilateral economic and trade relations. Repeated China is not deliberately pursuing a trade surplus, which reflects differences in bilateral economic structure, comparative advantage and division of labor. Reaffirmed mutual benefits from cooperation while reciprocal tariffs will damage all parties involved. Suggested China and US can resolve differences through equal-footed dialogue. As China raised its tariff rate on US imports to 84% effective 12:01 BST Thursday, Ministry of Commerce official emphasized China does not want a trade war but will "by no means sit by when the legitimate rights and interests of its people are being hurt and deprived." Echoed the White Paper stance that China is willing to communicate with the US to address their respective concerns through dialogue and consultations on an equal footing. Foreign Ministry spokesperson urged US to "demonstrate an attitude of equality, respect and reciprocity" if they really seek resolution through dialogue. Repeated warning that if US is bent on waging a tariff/trade war, "China is ready to fight to the end."

    • Asian nations look to strike deals with US following Trump's tariff pause:

      • President Trump's 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs giving rise to hopes Asian nations hit hardest by the tariffs can strike agreements (Bloomberg). Vietnam Deputy PM met USTR Greer on Wednesday with two sides agreeing to begin work on reciprocal trade deal (Bloomberg). While Vietnam has offered to eliminate tariffs on US products, White House has taken aim at its non-tariff trade barriers, which Hanoi said it is working to address. Trump has also given positive signals on talks with Japan and South Korea after they dispatched senior officials to Washington for negotiations (Reuters). Offers to boost purchases of US LNG and invest in shipbuilding have been welcomed by White House (Nikkei, Reuters). Taiwan proposed eliminating tariffs on US goods and increase purchases of American goods (Bloomberg). Treasury Secretary Bessent flagged further talks with the three nations and India in coming days, voiced hope of reaching agreement with US allies (particularly military allies). This was seen allowing for a more cooperative approach against China after Bessent warned other nations against aligning themselves with Beijing (Reuters).

    • TSMC quarterly revenue beats estimates on AI and smartphone demand:

      • TSMC (2330.TT) reported Q1 sales of NT$839.25B ($25.5B) versus FactSet consensus $834.1B, 46.5% higher y/y on strong pre-tariff demand for AI servers, smartphones. On m/m basis, sales rose 10%. Results are company's strongest quarterly revenue figures since 2022 however analysts warned over potential inventory frontloading ahead of tariffs amid reports of US consumers rushing to buy iPhones over tariff concerns (Bloomberg). Said Q1 sales may be FY peak as pace of spending pace on datacenters, AI may be slowing with Microsoft (MSFT) announcing withdraw of several projects, frontloading pre tariffs (Bloomberg). Q1 also saw TSMC make high-profile $100B US investment announcement to boost chip production there although at time, Taiwan government downplayed link between investment and tariffs. Although import tax on Taiwan pared back by President Trump Wednesday, he said last week those on chips would proceed as planned in coming weeks.

    • Yuan falls to lowest level since 2007 amid growing US-China trade tensions:

      • Onshore yuan dropped to 7.3518 per dollar Thursday morning, weakest level since Dec-2007 (Bloomberg). PBOC set yuan fixing at 7.2092, weakening for sixth straight session. Came as trade tensions between US and China showed no signs of respite as President Trump raised tariffs on China to 125% while giving 90-day pause on higher levies for other trade partners. Earlier Beijing announced 84% levies on all US imports. Pressure on yuan depreciation growing as it will mitigate impact of US tariffs to make China exports competitive. Chinese Premier Li said Beijing will unveil more proactive macroeconomic policies amid external shocks (Reuters) while bets on monetary easing from PBOC also weighing on yuan. However strategists cautioned authorities do not want currency weakening to get too disorderly and speculative, which will hurt confidence in Chinese assets. Bloomberg also added US Treasury Secretary Bessent warned against China not to devalue yuan.

    • Notable Gainers:

      • +16.6% NWL.AU (Netwealth Group): reports Q3 FUA A$104.08B vs quarter-ago A$101.57B

      • +16.0% 4680.JP (ROUND ONE): reports March Japan same-store sales +7.0% y/y

      • +9.9% 2330.TT (Taiwan Semiconductor): reports March revenue NT$285.96B, +46.5% y/y

      • +5.2% 2018.HK (AAC Technologies Holdings): completes $100M buyback; plans additional HK$1.2B buyback

      • +4.3% MAH.AU (Macmahon Holdings): awarded three-year contract extension at Byerwen mine worth A$900M

    • Notable Decliners:

      • -7.7% RCE.AU (Recce Pharmaceuticals): announces A$5.0M placement; launches A$10.8M entitlement offer at A$0.28/share through Ord Minett

      • -4.0% 2670.JP (ABC-MART): guides FY25 net income attributable ¥45.53B vs FactSet ¥46.45B [9 est, ¥44-48.70B]

  • Data:

    • Economic:

      • China March

        • CPI (0.1%) y/y vs consensus 0.0% and (0.7%) in prior month

        • PPI (2.5%) y/y vs consensus (2.3%) and (2.2%) in prior month

      • Japan March

        • CGPI y/y +4.2% versus +4.1% in prior month

    • Markets:

      • Nikkei: 2,894.97 or +9.13% to 34609.00

      • Hang Seng: 417.29 or +2.06% to 20681.78

      • Shanghai Composite: 36.83 or +1.16% to 3223.64

      • Shenzhen Composite: 44.78 or +2.46% to 1868.39

      • ASX200: 334.60 or +4.54% to 7709.60

      • KOSPI: 151.36 or +6.60% to 2445.06

      • SENSEX: Closed

    • Currencies:

      • $-¥: (1.41) or (0.95%) to 146.3610

      • $-KRW: +15.13 or +1.05% to 1461.9300

      • A$-$: +0.00 or +0.01% to 0.6154

      • $-INR: (0.29) or (0.33%) to 86.3007

      • $-CNY: (0.01) or (0.10%) to 7.3426

This information and data is provided for general informational purposes only. The Bank of New York Mellon and our information suppliers do not warrant or guarantee the accuracy, timeliness or completeness of this information or data. We provide no advice nor recommendation or endorsement with respect to any company or securities. We do not undertake any obligation to update or amend this information or data. Nothing herein shall be deemed to constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy securities.
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