A container ship sails past buildings in Busan, South Korea, on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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Chinese and Hong Kong markets fell Thursday as investors assessed the first in-person meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping since Trump began his second term.
Mainland China’s CSI 300 slipped 0.5%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.76%, reversing earlier gains after the meeting concluded.
Trump said he had reached a one-year agreement with China on rare earths and other critical minerals, and that Washington will cut fentanyl-related tariffs on Beijing to 10% after their meeting in South Korea.
Other Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Thursday, after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated that a rate cut in December was far from a “foregone conclusion.”
The Fed on Wednesday slashed the benchmark federal funds rate by 25 basis points, as expected, to bring it to 3.75%-4%.
South Korea’s markets will also be in focus after Seoul’s chief policy advisor Kim Yong-beom reportedly released details of the trade deal with Washington.
South Korea will invest $200 billion in the U.S., with an annual cap of $20 billion a year, while the remaining $150 billion of its $350 billion total pledge announced earlier this year will be used for shipbuilding cooperation, according to local media reports.
The Kospi gained 0.85% with gains seen in auto and shipbuilding stocks, while the small-cap Kosdaq was down 0.78%.
Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed lower Wednesday after Powell’s remarks, having hit a record high earlier in the session.
The Dow closed down 0.2% at 47,632.00, while the S&P 500 ended marginally lower at 6,890.59.
However, the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.55% to a fresh record close of 23,958.47, propped up by a rise in Nvidia.
—CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Sarah Min contributed to this report.
