South Korean stocks surge 2% to lead gains in Asia-Pacific after Trump pauses EU tariffs – NBC4 Washington

This is CNBC’s live blog covering Asia-Pacific markets.

Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Monday as investors assessed U.S. President Donald Trump’s postponement of 50% tariffs on European Union imports.

South Korea‘s Kospi index advanced 2.02% to close at 2,644.40, its highest level since Feb. 24, while the small-cap Kosdaq gained 1.3% to 725.27.

In Japan, benchmark Nikkei 225 ended the day 1% higher at 37,531.53 while the broader Topix index added 0.6% to 2,751.91.

Mainland China’s CSI 300 index lost 0.57% to end the day at 3,860.11, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.35% to 23,282.33.

India’s benchmark Nifty 50 moved up 0.53% while the BSE Sensex rose 0.55% as at 2.04 p.m. Indian Standard Time.

Over in Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 ended the day flat at 8,361.

U.S. futures ticked up in early Asia trade. U.S. markets will be closed on Monday for Memorial Day.

All three key benchmarks on Wall Street declined in last Friday’s session following Trump’s tariff threats on tech giant Apple as well as the European Union. The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.67% to end the session at 5,802.82, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1% and settled at 18,737.21. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 256.02 points, or 0.61%, to close at 41,603.07.

Trump’s fresh tariff threats have rattled markets “after a period of relative calm, during which markets had priced in a more constructive outlook for trade negotiations,” Mathieu Racheter, head of equity strategy research at Julius Baer wrote in a Monday note.

Looking ahead, he notes that the wide range of potential outcomes, as well as the elevated policy uncertainty make diversification across regions “increasingly prudent.”

“We continue to advocate for a diversified approach across regions, with a particular focus on markets where valuations are more grounded and earnings expectations remain realistic,” Racheter added.

— CNBC’s John Melloy and Lisa Kailai Han contributed to this report.

South Korean stocks surge to three-month high

South Korean stocks rallied Monday, reversing course from losses in its previous two sessions.

The 200-stock Kospi index advanced 2.02% to close at 2,644.40, its highest level since Feb. 24, following U.S. President Donald Trump’s postponement of tariffs on the European Union.

Meanwhile, the small-cap Kosdaq gained 1.3% to 725.27, its highest since May 15.

Gains were broad-based across sectors, with strong moves seen in Hyundai-Rotem, which rose 8.93% and Hyundai Engineering & Construction, which advanced 7.38%.

Among the index heavyweights, LG Electronics advanced 2.29% while SK Hynix added 1.5% and Samsung Electronics increased by 0.92%.

— Amala Balakrishner

Asia-focused funds trim overweight on China

Funds with exposure to Asia and emerging markets have trimmed their overweight positions on mainland China and rotated into India, HSBC analysts noted.

“Global fund holdings in mainland China have witnessed a gradual rise over the past few months, but remain substantially lower than the levels touched in 2021. Both Asia and GEM Funds built exposure to India, although the market remains among the biggest underweights,” they wrote in a May 26 research note.

The moves come as interest in Asia ex-China equities have picked up, with foreign institutional investors pouring in $12 billion in the region so far this month, marking the strongest monthly inflow in a year and a half, the analysts added.

Aside from India, they highlighted that Taiwan has seen substantial inflows of $8 billion, its highest monthly inflow since late 2023.

— Amala Balakrishner

China’s BYD sees shares plunge over 9% as electric-vehicle maker cuts prices

Shares in BYD plunged more than 9% Monday, a steep drop from their record high last week, as investors assessed the Chinese electric-vehicle giant’s price cuts on May 23.

The company announced on the Chinese social media platform Weibo that it was reducing the prices on 22 electric and plug-in hybrid models until the end of June.

Shares of other Chinese automakers also declined Monday on worries that intense competition would lead to a price war.

Read the full story, here.

— Amala Balakrishner

Minneapolis Fed’s Kashkari expects rates to be on hold ‘for a while’

Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari expects the U.S. Federal Reserve to keep rates on hold “for a while”, he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” Monday.

Mortgage rates have been high for a few years and are likely to stay higher given that the housing market has been “quite frozen,” Kashkari noted.

It is also too soon for any changes by the Fed given that the current data at hand is outdated and does not reflect the “full effect of the tariffs,” he added.

“We’re not yet seeing the full effect of tariffs on the cost of inputs, the lumber that we might buy from Canada, that is not yet fully showing up yet. There’s also an immigration component. A lot of homes in America are built by immigrant workers, to the extent that there are fewer immigrants coming in to build homes, that also could have an effect on the housing market in the U.S,” he explained.

Kashkari said that the Fed’s slowdown of its balance sheet drawdown last month has placed it on a “good trajectory” and does not expect to see any major changes soon.

He also shared that it is too early to tell whether the dollar may be losing its dominance as the world’s reserve currency. While the U.S. economy still retains the “strongest fundamentals of any major economy”, there could be credible competitors to the dollar, making the dollar’s movement “something worth watching,” he said.

– Diane Jorolan, Neha Hegde

Hong Kong shares plunge as investors await fresh stimulus

Hong Kong stocks fell Monday as investors await fresh stimulus to support China’s economic and corporate earnings, which have come under pressure from the tariff war with the U.S.

Hang Seng Index was down 1% as at 12.13 p.m. local time. Many major Chinese companies are listed on the index, which is up 16.48% since the start of the year. Its losses were led by the technology and consumer cyclical sectors.

The worst performers on the index were BYD which plunged 7.70% and Geely Automobile which retreated 7.29%.

Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Hang Seng Tech Index was last seen down 1.32%. The worst performers include Meituan which declined 5.11%, Li Auto which dropped 4.85% and Xpeng, which fell 3.55%.

The Hang Seng Tech Index ETF shows the day’s moves:

— Amala Balakrishner

South Korean shares surge over 1%

South Korean stocks rallied Monday amid mixed trading in Asia after U.S. President Donald Trump delayed his threat to impose 50% tariffs on the European Union by more than a month.

As of 11.56 a.m. local time, the Kospi index had advanced 1.34%. The index has gained 9.47% since the start of the year.

Meanwhile, the small-cap Kosdaq index was last seen trading 1.43% higher; it has risen 7.43% since the start of the year.

Gains were broad-based across sectors, with strong moves seen in Hyundai-Rotem, which surged 11.48% and Hyundai Engineering & Construction, which advanced 7.58%.

Among the index heavyweights, Samsung Electronics was last seen up 1.11% while SK Hynix moved up 0.5%. Shares of battery maker LG Energy Solutions rose 3.92% while Samsung SDI gained 4%.

— Amala Balakrishner

Asian currencies rally as the dollar weakens on fears of ballooning U.S. debt

Asia-Pacific currencies rallied Monday as the greenback extended declines, with U.S. President Donald Trump’s tax bill threatening to pile on debt.

The U.S. dollar index had declined 0.39% to 98.725 as at 10.37 a.m. Singapore time, its weakest level since December 2023.

The Australian dollar appreciated by 0.51% against the greenback to 0.6528, after briefly hitting its highest level since last December earlier in the session.

The South Korean won gained 0.23% against the dollar to 1,361.66, as several analysts expect the currency to strengthen alongside its trade negotiations with the U.S. and easing political uncertainties.

Meanwhile, the Japanese yen strengthened 0.17% against the dollar to 142.28 while the offshore Chinese yuan strengthened marginally by 0.08% to 7.1648.

Elsewhere in Southeast Asia, the Singapore dollar strengthened 0.24% against the greenback to 1.2806, after hitting an eight-month high earlier in the session.

The Thai baht had also hit an eight-month high and was last seen 0.15% stronger at 32.40 against the dollar.

— Amala Balakrishner

Nippon Steel shares gain over 7% after Trump offers support for its $14.9 billion U.S. Steel bid

Shares of Nippon Steel gained as much as 7% in early trade on Monday, on the back of U.S. President Donald Trump’s support for the company’s $14.9 billion bid to acquire U.S. Steel.

The world’s fourth-largest steelmaker was briefly the top performer on Japan’s Nikkei 225 index.

The rally in Nippon Steel’s shares comes as Trump noted that its “planned partnership” with U.S. Steel “will create at least 70,000 jobs, and add $14 billion to the U.S. Economy.”

Trump’s comments — which were posted on Truth Social last Friday — sent U.S. Steel shares up by 21%, as investors interpreted his views as a nod of approval on the long-planned takeover.

— Amala Balakrishner

Shares of Australia’s WiseTech surges over 5% on $2.1 billion purchase of E2Open

Shares of Australian logistics software company WiseTech Global surged as much as 5.67% Monday, following its announcement to acquire U.S. cloud computing firm E2Open for $2.1 billion.

WiseTech will pay $3.30 per share for E2open, a 28% premium to Friday’s closing price in New York, the company announced on Monday.

The deal, which will be fully funded through a new $3 billion debt facility underwritten by a syndicate of nine lenders, including Deutsche Bank and HSBC, is in line with WiseTech’s move to expand its global product and customer base.

The company, which is known for its CargoWise platform, will gain around 5,600 additional customers is expected to increase WiseTech’s earnings-per-share in the first year, it added.

The acquisition comes just two months after Australia’s largest pension fund AustralianSuper sold around 580 million Australian dollars ($377.35 million) worth of WiseTech stocks over corporate governance concerns.

— Amala Balakrishner