HONG KONG
\nAsian markets largely rose Friday, tracking Wall Street gains, as China said it was considering a US offer to negotiate steep tariffs. US markets had forged higher Thursday following strong results from tech giants Microsoft and Meta that helped offset lingering economic worries.
\nPresident Donald Trump\u2019s levies reached 145 percent on many Chinese products in April, while Beijing has responded with fresh 125 percent duties on imports from the United States.
\nOn Friday, China\u2019s commerce ministry said it was evaluating a US offer for negotiations on tariffs, but wanted Washington to show \u201csincerity\u201d and be ready to scrap levies that have roiled global markets and supply chains.
\nTrump has repeatedly claimed that China has reached out for talks on the tariffs, and this week said he believed there was a \u201cvery good chance we\u2019re going to make a deal\u201d. Dozens of countries face a 90-day deadline expiring in July to strike an agreement with Washington and avoid higher, country-specific rates. Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said Beijing and Washington were now \u201cwaving detente flags\u201d in their spiralling trade war.
\nBeijing\u2019s demand for sincerity was an apparent call to ditch the 145 percent rate, before holding serious talks, Innes said in a note Friday. \u201cBut dig a layer deeper, and the path is still littered with landmines,\u201d he added.In Asia on Friday, Hong Kong\u2019s Hang Seng Index was up more than 1.7 percent at the close, while Tokyo\u2019s main Nikkei index closed up 1.04 percent.
\nTaipei gained 2.7 percent and Sydney closed up 1.1 percent, while Seoul edged up 0.1 percent and New Zealand was flat. Mainland Chinese markets were closed for a holiday. In Europe, London was up in early trading while Paris and Frankfurt both rose more than one percent in trade after public holidays.
\nJapan\u2019s envoy for US tariff talks said in Washington on Thursday that a second round of negotiations between the two countries had been \u201cfrank and constructive\u201d. Japan, a key US ally and its biggest investor, is subject to the same 10 percent baseline tariffs imposed on most nations plus steeper levies on cars, steel and aluminium.
\nThe Bank of Japan warned earlier that tariffs were fuelling global economic uncertainty and revised down its growth forecasts while keeping its key interest rate steady. Traders are looking ahead Friday to US jobs data for April for indications of the US central bank\u2019s path for interest rates. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
HONG KONG Asian markets largely rose Friday, tracking Wall Street gains, as China said it was considering a US offer to negotiate steep tariffs. US markets had forged higher Thursday following strong results from tech giants Microsoft and Meta that helped offset lingering economic worries. President Donald Trump\u2019s levies reached 145 percent on many Chinese […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":476123,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-476110","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n