After US President Trump announced a 90-day suspension of higher tariffs on all countries except China, US stocks experienced an epic surge. On Thursday morning, as market risk sentiment eased, the Asia-Pacific markets also soared.
Asia-Pacific stock markets soared.
On Thursday morning, the Japanese stock market quickly rose after opening, with the Nikkei 225 index up 8.21%, and the broader Topix index up 7.34%.
The South Korean Composite Stock Price Index surged 5%, while the Kosdaq index, representing small-cap stocks, rose 4.61%.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index opened up 6%, but by the time of writing, the gain had narrowed to 4.99%.
Singapore's Straits Times Index (STI) rose 8.7%, the largest increase since 2009.
In Taiwan, China, the Taiwan Weighted Stock Index rose 9.34%, surging over 1,600 points, with TSMC hitting the limit up at the opening.
Risk sentiment seems to persist.
Although Trump announced a suspension of reciprocal tariffs for most countries, market risk sentiment does not seem to have completely dissipated.
As of writing, COMEX gold futures were still up 0.81% intraday, hovering above $3,100 per ounce. WTI crude oil futures, which had surged nearly $4 after Trump's early morning speech, were down 0.95% intraday, at $61.72 per barrel.
In the US stock index futures market, after last night's surge, US stock index futures showed mixed performance during the Asian session on Thursday.
As of writing, S&P 500 index futures were down 0.21%; Dow Jones index futures were up 0.17%; Nasdaq index futures were down 0.53%. The VIX volatility index futures, known as the "fear gauge," were still up over 4% intraday.
The S&P 500 index surged 9.52% overnight, closing at 5,456.90 points, marking the largest single-day gain since 2008. This was also the third-largest gain for the index since World War II, with the previous two occurring during the 2008 financial crisis.