Shipping containers and gantry cranes beyond a fishing boat near the Yangshan Deepwater Port in Shanghai, China, on Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023.
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Hong Kong markets jumped over 2% to lead gains in Asia-Pacific after China’s central bank and financial regulators announced sweeping plans to cut key interest rates in an effort to shore up growth in the face of trade worries.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 2.07%.
Elsewhere, markets in the region were mostly higher after reports that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and trade representative Jamieson Greer are set to meet with their Chinese counterparts this week.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.22% while the Topix rose 0.38%. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.32% while the small-cap Kosdaq lost 0.7%.
Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.17%.
Mainland China’s CSI 300 climbed 1.01%.
Bessent and Greer are set to hold talks with Chinese officials in Switzerland this week to address trade and economic issues.
The discussions mark a potential turning point in de-escalating the trade tensions ignited by Trump, who last month raised tariffs on Chinese goods to 145% while easing levies on most other countries. In response, China imposed heavy tariffs on U.S. products.
U.S. stock futures advanced Tuesday night as investors monitored the latest updates on U.S. trade negotiations and looked toward the Federal Reserve interest rate announcement expected Wednesday afternoon. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 280 points, or 0.7%. S&P 500 futures popped 0.8%, while Nasdaq 100 futures rallied 1%.
Overnight stateside, the three major averages closed lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 389.83 points, or 0.95%, to close at 40,829.00. The S&P 500 shed 0.77% and settled at 5,606.91, and the Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.87% to end at 17,689.66. All three of the major averages posted back-to-back declines.
— CNBC’s Hakyung Kim and Pia Singh contributed to this report.
