Asian Markets Update: Asian markets cheer US-China trade deal, Nikkei leads

Asian markets update: Most regional markets in Asia in Tuesday’s trade (May 13, 2025) cheered the US-China trade deal. The key MSCI Asia ex Japan index traded with a minor gain of 0.01 per cent.  Meanwhile, the markets remained on the sidelines ahead of th key inflation data due later today.

US-China trade deal

The US and China have agreed to put a 90-day halt on a part of their existing tariffs while working towards lowering existing tariffs, announced US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

“An agreement has been reached with China on a 90-day pause, and to substantially move down tariff levels,” he stated. 

He added that the tariff cuts will be reciprocal, with each of the economy lowering rates by 115 per cent.

And as part of this 90-day pause, the US would reduce the tariff levy of as much as 145 per cent on China imports to 30 per cent. Following, China will also cut tariffs on American imports from 125 per cent to 10 per cent.

Key Asian markets performance

China markets lagged, anticipating a delay in the local stimulus, and also amid profit-booking after strong gains over the past week. The mainland Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite indexes move higher by just about 0.2 per centeach, while Hong Kong’sHang Seng index was down 1.5 per cent.

Japan’s Nikkei, however, led the gains with an upmove of nearly 2 per cent, while Taiwan weighted also traded higher by over 1 per cent.

While South Korea’s Kospi was up by a tad. 

US stock index futures

After strong overnight gains on Wall Street as US and Beijing slashed their respective tariffs against each other, US stock index futures traded weak.