Investing.com – Asian equities were mostly higher in morning trade on Thursday as global markets calmed after an elevation in trade tensions between the U.S. and China triggered a sell-off earlier in the week.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he expects to announce new trade deals with certain unspecified countries soon. He made the comments as he met with lawmakers to discuss U.S. penalties against China-based ZTE Corp (HK:0763).
On Monday, Trump ordered the U.S. Trade Representative to identify $200 billion worth of China goods for additional tariffs.
Meanwhile, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said during a central bankers meeting in Portugal that trade tensions could cause damage to the global economy.
“Changes in trade policy could cause us to have to question the outlook,” Powell said during a panel discussion at the conference in Sintra, Portugal. “For the first time, we’re hearing about decisions to postpone investment, postpone hiring.”
Overnight, the S&P 500 broke a three-day losing streak and gained 0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.7% and hit an all-time high, supported by Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s rally as traders expect the company’s Instagram and Messenger units would continue to lift advertising income.
In Asia, China’s Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component both gained 0.5% by 10:20PM ET (02:20 GMT), while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.3%. Xiaomi Corp. caught some attention as reports on Thursday suggested the company’s highly-anticipated Hong Kong initial public offering could value the company at as little as $53.9 billion, compared to the initial goal of $100 billion last year.
According to Bloomberg, which cited marketing terms of the deal, the company and existing investors are offering 2.18 billion shares at HK$17 to HK$22 apiece, which would in turn value the company at $53.9 billion to $69.8 billion.
Elsewhere, Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 0.9%. South Korea’s KOSPI slipped 0.1%.
Down Under, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.0%, with the consumer discretionary subindex leading gains in the morning.