Equities in Australia and South Korea gained and those in Japan dipped. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% and the Nasdaq 100 climbed 0.7%, helped by tech gains that pushed Nvidia Corp. to become the first company in history to touch $4 trillion in market value. Brazilian assets plunged after President Donald Trump unveiled a new round of trade demand letters on Wednesday that included imposing 50% tariffs on Brazilian goods.
Japanese government bonds were steady ahead of an auction of 20-year JGBs Thursday. The dollar edged lower in early Asian trading.
Investors have been piling back into US stocks after a choppy first half of 2025, with Trump announcing the highest tariffs in a century in April. The equity rally indicated traders were brushing off fears Trump’s latest push on reciprocal tariffs would lead to a meaningful slowdown for the global economy or company earnings.
“Most investors believe that the economy is strong, corporate profits will be resilient and are eager to buy stocks,” said Chris Zaccarelli at Northlight Asset Management. “We believe more caution is warranted because we haven’t yet seen the impact of tariffs on corporate profits and consumer spending,” he said.
