AP – Asian stocks were mostly up yesterday on the back of a near-record rally on United States (US) stocks, as investors paid little attention to US President Donald Trump’s latest tariff threats.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index surged 3.14 per cent to 22,499.72, while the Shanghai Composite was up 0.43 per cent to 3,346.72. The Nikkei 225 slid 0.79 per cent to 39,149.43. Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia was up 0.19 per cent to 8,555.80 and South Korea’s KOSPI was up 0.31 per cent to 2,591.05.
“There are much tailwinds for risk sentiments in the region to tap on, with the positive handover in Wall Street, weaker US dollar and lower Treasury yields,” market strategist at IG Yeap Jun Rong wrote in a note.
“However, Japan’s Nikkei lagged, likely pressured by a stronger yen,” he said.
Chinese technology stocks listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange all gained yesterday, with stocks from video games firm Tencent, e-commerce firm Alibaba and online services firm Meituan rising over five per cent.
Chinese technology firms have enjoyed renewed interest since Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company DeepSeek released an AI model that rivals those of OpenAI while being trained on cheaper hardware. Companies like Alibaba have in recent weeks also released new iterations of their own AI models, and search engine firm Baidu said yesterday that it would make its Ernie Bot AI chatbot available for free to public.
“With Beijing doubling down on AI as a national priority, investors are rushing to reprice China’s tech and innovation potential. This is no longer just a stimulus-driven bounce – it’s a paradigm shift,” said Managing Partner at SPI Asset Management Stephen Innes.
“If momentum holds, the Hang Seng Index could finally break out of its multi-year slump, reigniting global appetite for Chinese equities.”
On Thursday, the S&P 500 climbed one per cent to pull within 0.1 per cent of its all-time high set last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 342 points, or 0.8 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.5 per cent.
US stocks rose after officials in Washington said reciprocal tariffs would take time to implement.
