Asian Sentiment Improves as Sabre Rattling Calms

The regional Asian financial markets were rebounding on Thursday after steep losses the day before. President Donald Trump has walked back the possibility of imminent war with Iran. This has deescalated tensions in the Middle East.

The Asian benchmark, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 was trading up 1.9 percent as it recovered its losses from yesterday. The broader Topix index, in Tokyo, was up 1.47 percent by lunchtime.

Across the Korean Strait, the Kospi composite index added 1.17 percent and the Hang Seng index tacked on over one percent.

Elsewhere in the Asian and Pacific Rim, the Australian ASX 200 was up 0.9 percent. The heavily weighted financial sub-index gained 0.77 percent.

The markets on the mainland in China were also trading in the green today. The Shanghai composite added 0.69 percent and the smaller Shenzhen composite was up over 1.4 percent. The Shenzhen component is currently up 1.47 percent.

Asian Sentiment Improves as Global Tensions in the Middle East Calm Down

President Donald Trump in a number of tweets, sent yesterday, said the assessment of damages was “so far so good!” and “all is well.” This calmed the global financial markets.

Yesterday, traders were unnerved after Iran attacked U.S. military basis in Iraq. This was in retaliation for the United States killing General Suleimani last week. Now, President Donald Trump walked back the possibility of war with Iran. Trump also said that he wants a better nuclear deal.

Also, President Trump does not feel it necessary to endanger the lives of U.S. troops in an unnecessary war. U.S. officials also said that Iran appears to be standing down and announced even more economic sanctions against Iran.

The private ADP non-farm payroll change, released on Wednesday, beat expectations for the month of December. The U.S. labor sector added 202K new jobs. Traders will now wait on the non-farm payroll report due on Friday at 1:30 pm GMT.