HONG KONG: Asian stocks rallied on Tuesday (Jun 3) as investors kept tabs on developments in the China-US trade war amid speculation the countries’ leaders will hold talks soon.
After a period of relative calm on the tariff front, Donald Trump at the weekend accused Beijing of violating last month’s deal to slash huge tit-for-tat levies and threatened to double tolls on steel and aluminium.
The moves jolted Asian markets on Monday, but hopes that the US president will speak with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping – possibly this week – has given investors some hope for a positive outcome.
Meanwhile, oil prices extended Monday’s surge on a weak dollar and Ukraine’s strike on Russian bombers parked deep inside the country that stoked geopolitical concerns as well as stuttering US-Iran nuclear talks.
Trump has expressed confidence that a talk with Xi could ease trade tensions, even after his latest volley against the Asian superpower threatened their weeks-old tariff truce.
“They violated a big part of the agreement we made,” he said Friday.
“But I’m sure that I’ll speak to President Xi, and hopefully we’ll work that out.”
It is unclear if Xi is keen on a conversation – the last known call between them was in the days before Trump’s inauguration in January – but the US president’s economic adviser Kevin Hassett signalled on Sunday that officials were anticipating something this week.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent – who last week warned negotiations with China were “a bit stalled” – said at the weekend the leaders could speak “very soon”.
Officials from both sides are set for talks on the sidelines of an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) ministerial meeting in Paris on Wednesday.
While there has been no movement on the issue, investors took the opportunity on Tuesday to pick up recently sold shares.
Hong Kong gained more than 1 per cent while Shanghai returned from a long weekend on the front foot.
There were also gains in Tokyo, Sydney, Wellington, Singapore, Taipei and Manila.
Seoul was closed for a presidential election.
Source: CNA
