TOKYO — Global equity markets mostly experienced gains on Thursday, buoyed by a recent surge in U.S. stocks following the release of earnings reports from several major corporations.
In early trading, France’s CAC 40 saw a slight increase of 0.3%, reaching 7,912.19, while Germany’s DAX climbed 0.7% to 21,710.10. The FTSE 100 in Britain also enjoyed a boost of 0.8%, hitting 8,694.89. Expectations for U.S. markets appeared optimistic, with Dow futures rising 0.1% to settle at 45,059.00 and S&P 500 futures gaining 0.1% to 6,093.75.
Asian markets reflected this upward trend, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 closing up by 0.6% at 39,066.53. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 surged ahead by 1.2%, ending the day at 8,520.70. South Korea’s Kospi saw an increase of 1.1%, closing at 2,536.75. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index climbed 1.4% to 20,891.62, while the Shanghai Composite reported a 1.3% gain, bringing it to 3,270.66.
Japanese automakers Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Corp. observed an uptick in their stock prices after local reports suggested that they might be abandoning discussions to form a joint holding company. Neither firm has confirmed these talks, and stakeholders are awaiting further updates that are anticipated by mid-February, although a specific date has yet to be established.
Chinese stocks have also reflected strong performance recently, particularly following reports regarding the tech startup DeepSeek, which appears to be matching leading U.S. enterprises in generative AI capabilities at significantly lower costs.
There remains a cloud of uncertainty over the global economy, influenced by President Trump’s tariff policies. Although the onset of the week saw heightened anxiety over a potential global trade war, recent comments from Trump indicating 30-day delays for tariffs on both Mexico and Canada have alleviated some concerns. This development has led traders to speculate that Trump may view tariffs primarily as a negotiation tactic rather than a long-term strategy.
“Market participants are keenly observing the possibility of negotiations between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Trump. Though no dialogue has transpired yet, the lack of new trade conflicts could provide some comfort to the markets,” commented Anderson Alves from ActivTrades.
In the meantime, Trump has continued with the implementation of tariffs on Chinese imports, and analysts suggest that potential tariffs on automobiles from the European Union may be forthcoming. This could potentially lead to a short-term rise in inflation, which could push a commonly watched metric of core inflation to 2.6% in December, surpassing the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.
In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude rose by 17 cents, reaching $71.20 per barrel, while Brent crude, the global benchmark, increased by 10 cents, settling at $74.71 per barrel.
As for currency trading, the U.S. dollar gained slightly against the Japanese yen, ascending to 152.58 from 152.55. The euro was valued at $1.0369, down from the previous rate of $1.0407.
