HONG KONG (AP) — Stock markets across Asia showed varied results Thursday following another record-breaking session on Wall Street, with traders carefully analyzing developments from the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing.
The two leaders convened at the Great Hall of the People for discussions covering U.S.-China relations and Taiwan, though market analysts anticipated no significant policy breakthroughs would emerge.
U.S. futures showed modest gains.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index advanced 0.3% to 63,448.87, momentarily touching a fresh all-time intraday peak above 63,700, buoyed in part by strong corporate earnings. South Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.5% to 7,884.71, with technology sector shares providing support.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.7% to 26,584.88. The Shanghai Composite index declined 0.9% to 4,204.41.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped less than 0.1% to 8,627.80.
Taiwan’s Taiex advanced 0.6%, while India’s Sensex gained 0.5%.
Energy prices continued their upward trajectory, with the Iran conflict showing no clear resolution after more than two months. Some market participants expressed optimism that the Trump-Xi discussions might yield progress, following statements from U.S. officials suggesting Beijing could leverage its strong economic relationship with Tehran to pressure Iran into reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, increased 0.4% to $106.04 per barrel. Prices had traded around $70 per barrel before the Iranian conflict began in late February. The International Energy Agency reported Wednesday that supply disruptions from the strait were “depleting global oil inventories at a record pace.”
Benchmark U.S. crude also gained 0.4% to $101.43 per barrel.
Market participants are also monitoring developments regarding China’s purchases of Nvidia’s advanced H200 chips, following confirmation that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang joined Trump’s China visit along with other prominent executives including Tesla’s Elon Musk and Apple’s Tim Cook.
Wednesday saw technology shares drive Wall Street higher. The benchmark S&P 500 rose 0.6% to 7,444.25, achieving another record high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.1% to 49,693.20, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite surged 1.2% to 26,402.34, setting its own milestone.
In bond markets, the yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury declined slightly to 4.46% from 4.47%, though remaining well above the approximately 3.97% level seen before the Iran conflict commenced.
Wednesday’s economic data revealed that U.S. wholesale prices jumped in April, driven by energy market disruptions stemming from the Iran war. The U.S. Senate also confirmed Kevin Warsh, Trump’s nominee, to head the Federal Reserve on Wednesday. He will replace Jerome Powell, whom Trump had frequently criticized for insufficient rate reductions.
The U.S. dollar weakened to 157.85 Japanese yen from 157.86 yen. The euro traded at $1.1715, up from $1.1711.
