TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares bounced from two-month lows on Thursday as world equities recovered from a selloff triggered by escalating Sino-U.S. trade tensions, with investors hoping a full-blown trade war between the world’s two biggest economies can be averted.
Sentiment was lifted as the United States expressed willingness to negotiate a resolution to the trade fight after the proposed U.S. tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese goods prompted a quick response from Beijing that it would retaliate by targeting key American imports.
Major European stock futures STXEc1 FFIc1 FDXc1 FCEc1 have risen more than 1 percent, pointing to solid gains in Britain's FTSE .FTSE, Germany's DAX .GDAXI and France's CAC40 .FCHI.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.5 percent, a day after it hit its lowest in almost two months.
Japan's Nikkei .N225 gained 1.5 percent while markets in mainland China, and those in Hong Kong and Taiwan, are closed for the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday on Thursday.
U.S. S&P 500 mini futures ESc1 rose 0.3 percent in Asia. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 1.16 percent and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 1.45 percent, clawing back heavy losses of more than 1.5 percent right from earlier in the U.S. session.
“I think that the substance of trade restrictions and their real impact will be far less than the headlines,” said Jeffery Becker, Chairman and CEO at Jennison Associates in New York. “U.S. and Chinese cross border trade has grown significantly over the last decade and economic inter-dependence runs very deep, deeper than the actual trade numbers. And both countries have a lot to lose by escalating a trade war.”
Many investors viewed U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest tariffs plan as part of his negotiation strategy, rather than his final policy.
Indeed, Trump’s top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, when asked whether the latest U.S. tariffs plan may never go into effect and may be a negotiating tactic, told reporters: “Yes, it’s possible. It’s part of the process.” He called the announcements by the two countries mere opening proposals.
The U.S. trade actions will not be carried out immediately, giving the two countries room for maneuver and providing investors with hope of a compromise.
The proposed 25 percent U.S. tariffs on some 1,300 industrial technology, transport and medical products from China now see a public comment and consultation period that is expected to last around two months.
“Our view on the China-U.S. trade situation is that typically, the initial headline is worse than what we expect the implementation to ultimately turn out to be. So our expectation is it will remain a tense situation but will not break out, and to an all out trade
