Asian shares mostly gain amid cautious relief over U.S.-China agreement

YURI KAGEYAMA

Tue, May 13, 2025, 8:27 PM 3 min read

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were mostly higher Wednesday arsenic a cautious consciousness of alleviation dispersed done determination markets aft the U.S. and China agreed to a 90-day intermission successful their trade war.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 mislaid 0.8% to 37,874.59. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.1% to 8,260.40.

South Korea's Kospi surged 1.1% to 2,635.86. Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 1.1% to 23,367.57, portion the Shanghai Composite gained 0.1% to 3,377.75.

The alleviation implicit the commercialized truce betwixt the U.S. and China is tepid among planetary businesses and investors fixed uncertainty implicit however agelong it mightiness past and wherever tariffs mightiness spell successful the months ahead.

“In the lack of a lasting deal, uncertainty implicit wherever tariff rates volition settee and the interaction of those already implemented volition stay cardinal factors successful our macroeconomic forecasts,” said Brian Coulton, main economist astatine Fitch Ratings.

A study overnight that showed U.S. inflation unexpectedly slowed past period helped thrust buying that pushed the S&P 500 up 0.7%, to 5,886.55. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6% to 42,140.43, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.6% to 19,010.08.

The S&P 500 fell nearly 20% below its record past month, but has since recovered connected hopes that President Donald Trump volition easiness his stiff tariffs connected trading partners worldwide earlier they make a recession and nonstop ostentation spiking higher.

The S&P 500, which sits astatine the halfway of galore 401(k) accounts, is backmost wrong 4.2% of its all-time precocious acceptable successful February and affirmative again for the twelvemonth truthful far.

Tuesday’s study said that adjacent with each the uncertainty astir trade, and adjacent with galore businesses rushing to import products from different countries earlier tariffs rise their prices, ostentation slowed to 2.3% past period from 2.4% successful March.

Such information pulls the system further from a worst-case script called “stagflation,” wherever the system stagnates but ostentation remains high. The Federal Reserve has nary bully mode to hole that toxic combination. It could effort to little rates to assistance the economy, for example, but that would apt worsen ostentation successful the abbreviated term.

Even with Tuesday’s encouraging report, economists and analysts accidental ostentation whitethorn inactive tally higher successful coming months due to the fact that of Trump’s tariffs. That volition apt permission the Fed waiting for much information to usher their determination connected whether and erstwhile to chopped involvement rates successful bid to assistance the economy.

It’s akin to the hold that investors successful wide are enduring. With the Fed acceptable to marque nary moves connected involvement rates for the clip being, markets volition apt commercialized “with dialog and reconciliation headlines,” according to Alexandra Wilson-Elizondo, planetary co-head and co-chief concern serviceman of multi-asset solutions wrong Goldman Sachs Asset Management.