Yahoo Finance Asian Equities Rise as Trump Hints at March Deadline Extension
Investing.com - Asian equities rose in morning trade after U.S. President Donald Trump repeated that he may extend a March 1 deadline for tariff increases on Chinese goods.
China’s Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component both gained 0.4% by 9:30 PM ET (02:30 GMT), while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index advanced 1%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 edged up 0.2% even after the Ministry of Finance's data showed the country’s exports recorded their biggest decline in more than two years in January.
Exports fell 8.4% in the year to January, versus the expected 5.5% annual drop and followed a revised 3.9% year-on-year drop last December.
Elsewhere, South Korea’s KOSPI was up 1.0%. Down under, Australia’s ASX 200 was down 0.4%.
The gain in Asian shares came after Trump said on Tuesday that trade talks with China are going well, and that the current March deadline is not a "magical date."
Last week, he told reporters that he is willing to extend the deadline if China and the U.S. get closer to a deal.
His comments were in contrast with the White House’s earlier remark, in which March 1 was referred to as a “hard deadline.”
The world's two largest economies began their latest round of trade talks this week in Washington to resolve their trade spat. High-level discussions are scheduled to happen later in the week, the White House said Monday.
In other news, Chinese State Councillor Wang Yi told the delegation of U.S. business leaders on Tuesday that the U.S. needs to respect China’s right to develop.
"Just like the United States, China also has the right to development, and the Chinese people also have the right to have a good life,” said Wang.
"The U.S. side should recognize that China's development is in the world's interest, as well as the United States'. Only by seeing China's development as an opportunity for the United States can this help resolve certain problems, including trade and economic ones," Wang added.
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