Asian stocks advance over the possibility of easing US-China trade wars

Asian shares and U.S. stock futures climbed on Friday after Beijing signaled it was willing to discuss tariffs. This eased investor worries about the impact of tariffs after dull earnings from Apple and Amazon.

China’s commerce ministry said the United States has “repeatedly expressed its willingness to negotiate on tariffs” and that Beijing’s door is open for talks.” The remark helped turn Wall Street futures around: futures linked to the S&P 500 rose 0.6% and those tied to the Nasdaq added 0.3% despite the session starting in the red when Apple warned that tariffs could lift its costs this quarter by about $900 million. Apple also said on Thursday it would slow share repurchases significantly, giving no dollar target.

Asian stocks advanced

Japan’s Nikkei advanced 0.70% and Taiwan’s benchmark jumped 2%. The MSCI index that tracks Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan firmed 0.4%.

Even so, trading desks remained wary as investors continued to juggle the White House’s shifting tariff strategy and the risk that higher import costs could knock the world economy off course. Government data this week showed the US economy shrank in the first quarter for the first time in three years, while a private survey revealed Chinese factory output in April contracted at the fastest rate in sixteen months.

Several companies have recently trimmed or withdrawn profit forecasts, and Thursday’s updates from Apple and Amazon deepened anxiety. Their weak showings partly offset stronger figures earlier in the week from Microsoft and Meta Platforms, which had fed hopes that large technology groups could ride out the tariff storm.

Japanese yen slid to its weakest level since 10th April

In currency trade, the Japanese yen slid to 145.62 per dollar, its weakest level since 10 April, a day after the Bank of Japan left interest rates unchanged and lowered its growth outlook because of US tariffs.

The softer yen helped the U.S. currency log its best week since late February. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six peers, last stood at 100.14 as traders awaited the April non-farm payrolls data. Economists polled by Reuters expect payrolls to have increased by 130,000 after March’s 228,000 rise.

Japanese officials were also in the spotlight. Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato told reporters that the country’s more than $1 trillion in US Treasury holdings are among the levers Tokyo could use in trade negotiations with Washington. His comments came as Japan’s top trade negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, met US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington for a second round of bilateral tariff talks.

Commodity markets gave mixed signals. Spot gold eased to $3,234.9 an ounce, putting the metal on track for its weakest week in two months as appetite for safe havens cooled. Oil headed the other way after President Donald Trump warned of secondary sanctions on Iran. Brent crude futures were up 0.56 percent, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate gained 0.6 percent.

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