Asian stocks rebound after Trump avoids reigniting trade war

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets rebounded Monday after President Donald Trump avoided reigniting a trade war with China amid tension over Hong Kong and the coronavirus pandemic.

Hong Kong’s benchmark gained more than 3% and Shanghai and Tokyo rose more than 1%.

Global markets sank Friday as investors waited for Trump’s response to Beijing’s security law on Hong Kong. In the end, Trump ended Hong Kong’s special trade status and suspended visas of some Chinese students but avoided pulling out of a truce in a tariff war with Beijing that weighs on global growth.

“Markets may draw hollow consolation that the U.S. is treading carefully,” said Mizuho Bank in a report. However, it warned, relief may be “set to evaporate.”

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index surged 3.2% to 23,689.38 and the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo rose 1.2% to 22,140.01. The Shanghai Composite Index advanced 1.8% to 2,903.20.

The Kospi in Seoul added 1.4% to 2,058.42 and Australia’s S&P-ASX 200 was 0.9% higher at 5,805.20. Singapore gained 1.4%.

U.S.-Chinese tension has weighed on investor optimism about the global economy’s recovery from its deepest slump since the 1930s.

As China and some European countries revive economic activity, stock markets have been regaining much of this year’s losses despite rising numbers of virus cases in the United States, Brazil and some other countries.

On Friday, Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index ended the week with a 3% gain at 3,044.31 following a late-afternoon rally boosted by Trump’s news conference.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1% to 25,383.11. The Nasdaq composite, which is heavily weighted with technology stocks, gained 1.3% to 9,489.87.

Before the virus outbreak, the global economy already was under pressure from the...