Stocks rose on Monday as trade war fears were tempered by US President Donald Trump's announcement of tariff exemptions for electronics, although the greenback weakened and safe-haven gold hit a fresh record amid fears the relief would be short-lived.
Hong Kong's stock market ended higher with the benchmark Hang Seng Index up 2.4 percent at 21,417.40.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rose 2.11 percent to end at 7,965.81, and the Hang Seng Tech Index rose 2.34 percent to end at 5,015.12.
After the wild gyrations witnessed last week, markets got off to a relatively stable start following Friday's news that the White House would exempt smartphones, semiconductors, computers and other devices from painful "reciprocal" levies.
The announcement provided a much-needed injection of optimism for investors who had been sent scurrying for the hills in the wake of the US president's tariff flip-flops and tit-for-tat measures by China.
All three main indexes on Wall Street finished solidly higher, helped by comments from a top Federal Reserve official that the central bank was prepared to step in to support financial markets.
Asia followed suit, with tech firms helping push Hong Kong more than two percent higher, while Tokyo, Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Wellington, Jakarta and Manila were also well up.
London, Paris and Frankfurt also saw big gains in the morning, while US futures were all sharply higher.
"After a period of chaotic price action, chinks of light poke through the forest canopy providing a much-needed guide to the entities that price risk and liquidity for a living, which in turn, may see liquidity conditions improve and a relative calm return to markets," said Chris Weston at Pepperstone.
However, Trump looked to temper the remarks on Sunday, saying the exemptions had been misconstrued and writing on his Truth Social platform that "NOBODY is getting 'off the hook'... especially not China which, by far, treats us the worst!"
He said he would announce new tariffs on semiconductors "over the next week".
His commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, said earlier chip levies would likely be in place "in a month or two".
President Xi Jinping said on Monday that protectionism leads nowhere and that a trade war would have no winners, days after Beijing hit US goods with 125 percent duties but also suggested it would not retaliate further in the future. (AFP/Xinhua)
HK stocks close up despite Trump's exemptions warning
2025-04-14 HKT 17:55
