Asian Shares Rise Ahead Of US-China Trade Talks

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks rose broadly on Thursday despite U.S. stocks falling for a second straight session overnight.

Traders reacted to the Federal Reserve's status-quo rate decision and awaited cues from upcoming trade negotiations between China and the United States.

Later in the day, the U.S. and U.K. are expected to announce a deal to reduce tariffs.

The dollar index was largely steady in Asian trading as Goldman Sachs raised its inflation forecast, in part to account for dollar weakness.

Gold drifted lower while oil edged up slightly after falling more than $1 in the previous session.

China's Shanghai Composite index ended up 0.28 percent at 3,352 as defense stocks surged amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan in the wake of the Pahalgam attack.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index closed up 0.37 percent at 22,775.92, giving up some early gains after Chinese authorities rolled out interest rate cuts and other moves to help support the faltering economy.

Japanese markets eked out modest gains as chip-related shares followed their U.S. peers higher. The Nikkei average rose 0.41 percent to 36,928.63 while the broader Topix index finished marginally higher at 2,698.72.

Advantest surged 3.7 percent, Tokyo Electron gained a little over 2 percent and Screen Holdings added 1.4 percent.

NTT Data Group soared nearly 17 percent on a Nikkei report that telecoms giant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone plans to launch a tender offer worth up to 3 trillion yen ($20 billion) to buy the remaining shares in the company.

Seoul stocks edged up slightly, with the Kospi average rising 0.22 percent to 2,579.48, marking its third straight session of gains.

Battery and retail shares paced the gainers, with LG Energy Solution adding 1.6 percent and POSCO Future M rallying 3.1 percent.

Australian markets ended modestly higher after a choppy session. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 inched up by 0.16 percent to 8,191.70 while the broader All Ordinaries index gained 0.26 percent to close at 8,421.70.

Transurban Group shares advanced 1.7 percent as the toll road operator said it will cut hundreds of jobs in a bid to "streamline" operations.

Lender ANZ fell 1.9 percent after it posted flat cash earnings for the first half and flagged market realignment from global trade shifts.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index slipped 0.24 percent to 12,467.03.

U.S. stocks eked out modest gains overnight after two days of losses. The Dow climbed 0.7 percent, the S&P 500 added 0.4 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.3 percent as the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged, as widely expected, and reports suggested the Trump administration plans to revise AI chip export curbs.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who has been on the receiving end of severe criticism from President Trump for not cutting rates, emphasized that the mandate of resolving the uncertainties around tariffs, inflation and unemployment lies with the White House, and the central bank will change policy stance only when there is more clarity on the direction of the economy.