Asia: Markets mostly up as Trump soothes Fed fears

Asian markets were mixed on Thursday (Apr 24) after US President Donald Trump said he had “no intention” of firing the US central bank head and made conciliatory comments on his trade war with China.

Trump’s attacks on the Federal Reserve for not cutting interest rates had raised fears that he would fire its “Mr Too Late” chief Jerome Powell, in a major blow to its independence.

Trump’s rowback on Wednesday boosted Wall Street, as did his comments that US tariffs on China were “very high” and would “come down substantially”.

The broad-based S&P 500 finished 1.7 per cent higher on Wednesday. European stocks also rallied, with Frankfurt gaining more than 3 per cent.

Trump could also exempt car parts from some tariffs on China alongside those on steel and aluminium in a “destacking”, the Financial Times reported.

Tokyo rose more than 1 per cent, while Sydney added 0.6 per cent and Shanghai 0.3 per cent.

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But Seoul fell after official data showed South Korea’s economy unexpectedly contracted 0.1 per cent in the first three months of 2025.

Hong Kong and Taipei were also slightly down.

“Both US equities and government bonds have staged a relief rally over the past 24 hours, as concerns about Fed independence and the trade war have eased,” said Hubert de Barochez at Capital Economics.

“But the fact that the rally was sparked largely by conciliatory remarks from US President Trump – whose rhetoric is notoriously volatile – raises questions about its durability,” de Barochez said.

On trade, Washington has imposed additional tariffs of 145 per cent on a range of products from China, while Beijing has retaliated with levies of 125 per cent on US goods.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters on Wednesday that Washington is “not yet” speaking with Beijing on tariffs, calling the high levies not “sustainable”.

Bessent also said that in its talks with Japan on tariffs, Washington had “absolutely no currency targets”, after repeated comments from Trump that he wants a stronger yen.

Japan’s envoy Ryosei Akazawa met Trump and other senior US officials last week, and local media reported on Thursday that he will return for another round on May 1.

Nintendo shares gained as much as 5.5 per cent after its president said there were “extremely high” pre-orders in Japan for its Switch 2 game console ahead of its global launch on Jun 5. AFP