Cautious sentiment prevails in Asian markets after developments in the US-China meeting

A cautious mood prevailed on Asian exchanges on the afternoon of October 30, after US President Donald Trump announced that he had reached an important agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping on rare earths and tariffs. However, investors remained skeptical about the sustainability of the agreement.

Stock index board in Seoul, South Korea. Photo: THX/TTXVN

MSCI's broadest index of Asia- Pacific shares outside Japan reversed down 0.5 percent after rising the same amount in the morning session.

In China, the market had mixed results as Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 37.28 points, or 0.14%, to 26,308.86 points, while the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.73% to 3,986.9 points. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 Index also fell 0.43% to 9,178.9 points.

In South Korea, news that US President Donald Trump and President Lee Jae-myung had completed a bilateral trade deal helped ease market pessimism, but the Kospi index still fell 0.92% to 2,593.79 points, while the Kosdaq index of small-cap stocks fell 0.8% to 738.19 points.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index fluctuated within a narrow range and closed the session with a slight increase of 17.96 points, equivalent to 0.04%, reaching a new record of 51,325.61 points.

In a statement after the nearly two-hour meeting, President Trump said the US would partially reduce import tariffs on Chinese goods, in return for Beijing resuming purchases of US soybeans, maintaining rare earth exports and coordinating to control illegal fentanyl trafficking.

However, analysts say this is just a “tactical pause” in the US-China trade confrontation. Mr. Masahiko Loo, senior strategist at State Street Investment Management (Tokyo), commented that this meeting has not been a structural breakthrough. The two sides can continue to talk, but the prospect of reaching a comprehensive agreement is still very dim.

Investors now turn their focus to a series of central bank monetary policy decisions for fresh signals on global interest rate trends.

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) announced on October 30 that it would keep interest rates unchanged as expected, while affirming that it would gradually raise borrowing costs if the economy continues to improve as forecast.

Meanwhile, the US Federal Reserve (Fed) after its meeting on October 29 cut interest rates by another 0.25 percentage points – as expected by the market. However, the Fed warned that the US government shutdown has left the agency without official data on employment and inflation, which may force them to be more cautious in their next steps.

In the domestic market, at the end of this afternoon's session (October 30), the VN-Index decreased by 11.21 points (0.66%) to 1,674.62 points. The HNX-Index decreased by 1.08 points (0.4%) to 266.96 points.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/thi-truong-tien-te/tam-ly-than-trong-bao-trum-thi-truong-chau-a-sau-dien-bien-cuoc-gap-mytrung-20251030160215570.htm