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Asian Stocks initially fell Thursday after President Donald Trump’s meeting Sugar Leader Xi Jinping,
While Trump said the meeting was “wonderful” and that many issues were resolved, investors appeared skeptical. US futures were flat.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index bounced lower and then rose less than 0.1% to 51,333.51 after the Bank of Japan left its benchmark interest rates unchanged.
Chinese markets gave up early gains, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng falling 0.2% to 26,298.64. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.3% to 4,006.60.
South Korea’s Kospi index crossed the 4,000 mark for the first time, rising 0.1% to 4,084.91, after climbing more than 1% on the day following reports of progress in Washington’s trade talks with South Korea. Solid corporate earnings also boosted stocks in tech, auto and shipbuilding.
In Chinese markets, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.8% to 26,555.36, while the Shanghai Composite index rose less than 0.1% to 4,017.95. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) on Thursday cut its lending rate by 25 basis points to 4.25%. It always follows the US lead in interest rate policies as the value of the Hong Kong currency is tied to the US dollar.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell more than 0.5% to 8,885.50, led by losses in real estate and consumer discretionary shares.
Taiwan’s Taiex fell 0.1% while India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.5%.
Trump told reporters he was reducing the average tariffs on Chinese goods from 57% to 47%, effective immediately after his first face-to-face meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in six years. He cited Beijing’s progress in curbing exports of fentanyl and the chemicals used to make it.
Trump also said China was suspending its policy of tough restrictions on exports of rare earths and related technologies for a year, and he hoped the agreement would be extended. China’s aggressive use of tariffs since returning to the White House for a second term, as well as retaliatory limits on exports of rare earth elements, have given new urgency to the meeting.
The Chinese side did not immediately give any information on the details of the talks.
The meeting was a chance for the leaders of the world’s two largest economies to stabilize relations after months of turmoil over trade issues.
US stocks hit their record high on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve took steps to boost the job market but also warned that more help is not guaranteed.
The S&P 500 was nearly flat and down less than 0.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 73 points, or 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.5%. All three indices were hitting all-time highs.
Stocks were on track for modest gains in the afternoon after the Fed cut its key interest rate for the second time this year in hopes of helping a slowing job market. But the market fell after Chairman Jerome Powell later warned that it was “not a foregone conclusion” that the Fed would cut again at its next meeting in December, saying “far from it.”
“It needs to be taken off the board,” Powell said.
Meanwhile, big U.S. companies continued to rave about how much profit they made over the summer, and the frenzy in artificial-intelligence technology is fueling growth. Companies are under pressure to turn a profit because it is the only way they can assuage criticism that their stock prices have become too inflated.
In other deals early Thursday, benchmark U.S. crude fell 24 cents to $60.24 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 22 cents to $64.10 a barrel.
The US dollar rose to 152.94 JPY from 152.65 yen. The euro rose to $1.1627 from $1.1609.
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AP Business Writers Ellen Kurtenbach, Stan Cho and Matt Ott contributed.