Asian Markets Gain as the Nikkei Jumps 2%

The Asian and Pacific Rim markets were mostly higher by late Thursday morning. They were led by the Japanese Nikkei 225 which tacked on better than two percent.

This follows a rise on Wall Street, overnight. Asian sentiment improved this morning despite ongoing and increasing political tensions between China and the United States over Hong Kong.

The Japanese benchmark, the Nikkei 225 was up 2.06 percent as shares of Fast Retailing added 3.58 percent. In Tokyo, the broader Topix index added 1.78 percent.

Across the Korean Strait, the Kospi composite index gained 0.78 percent. Elsewhere in the Asian and Pacific Rim, the Australian S&P ASX 200 leaped 2.32 percent.

Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe told lawmakers that “it is possible that the economic downturn will not be severe as earlier thought.”

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was up 0.22 percent an on the mainland, in China, the indices were broadly higher by late morning. The Shanghai composite added 0.54 percent and the smaller Shenzhen composite rose 0.254 percent.

Asian Traders Monitor Developments between the U.S. and China

Traders are continuing to watch ongoing political tensions between the world’s two largest economic superpowers. These tensions, continue to worsen and surround Hong Kong.

Overnight, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Congress that Hong Kong was no longer independent from China. This will now bring focus, and not in a good way, on the special administrative region’s favorable trade relationship with the Unite States.

The U.S. is also considering more sanctions against China and government officials. Pompeo’s testimony follows China’s proposed national security law which has sparked protests in the City State.

The U.S. House of Representatives, also overnight, passed a law condemning Chinese abuse of civil rights over the torture, and continued detention, of Uighur Muslims in the western province of Xinjiang.