Asian shares have mostly advanced, tracking Wall Street, after US President Donald Trump walked back from imposing tariffs on eight European countries over Greenland and ruled out using military force to take control of the territory.
The future for the S&P 500 gained less than 0.1 per cent and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was virtually flat on Thursday.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 climbed 1.7 per cent to 53,688.89, with technology stocks leading gains. SoftBank Group jumped 11.6 per cent and equipment maker Disco Corp. soared 17.1 per cent.
Advantest, which makes testing equipment for computer chips, surged 5%.
South Korea’s Kospi closed 0.9 per cent higher at 4,952.44 after crossing the 5,000 mark for the first time, as traders cheered.
Technology-related stocks drove the rally. Shares of chipmaker SK Hynix picked up 2 two per cent while Samsung Electronics rose 1.9 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged less than 0.1 per ent higher to 26,600.68. The Shanghai Composite index edged 0.1 per cent higher to 4,122.58.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained nearly 0.8 per cent to 8,848.70, Taiwan’s Taiex rose 1.6 per cent and India’s Sensex added 0.2 per cent .
US markets logged t heir biggest losses since October on Tuesday as investors reacted to Trump’s threat over the weekend to slap tariffs of 10 per cent on Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland for opposing US control of Greenland, sparking concerns over worsening relationships between the US and its European allies.
But Trump, attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, backed down on Wednesday and said he would not use force to acquire Greenland.
The US president also said in a post on his social media site that he had agreed with the head of NATO on a “framework of a future deal” on Greenland and on Arctic security.
The easing tensions drove Wall Street optimism. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 climbed 1.2 per cent to 6,875. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.2 per cent to 49,077.23, while the Nasdaq composite also rose 1.2 oer cebt to 23,224.82.
Halliburton, the oil field services company, jumped 4.1 per cent following stronger-than-expected profits for the latest quarter. United Airlines rose 2.2 per cent also after better-than-expected quarterly profits. Netflix fell 2.2 per cent even as it reported a stronger profit than expected, as investors focused on factors including a slowing growth of subscribers.
The price of gold fell 0.2 per cent to $US4,828.70 per ounce, reflecting investors’ reduced worries, after passing the $4,800 mark ahead of Trump’s reversal of stance on Greenland as many flocked to safe-haven assets.
In the bond market, US Treasury yields also eased following lessened fear among investors as well as a calming of Japan’s bond market turmoil. The yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.25 per cent from 4.30 per cent late Tuesday.
The U.S. dollar rose to 158.75 Japanese yen from 158.27 yen, prompting analysts to speculate that authorities might intervene if the yen falls any further.
The euro rose to $1.1692 from $1.1687.
US benchmark crude oil shed 16 cents to $60.46 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 24 cents to $65.00 per barrel.