Asian markets gain, US stocks stuck in trade war doldrums

Asian shares were mostly higher in thin Good Friday trading after a bumpy ride on Wall Street, where the Dow industrials lost 1.3% as UnitedHealth shed more than a fifth of its value due to a weaker-than-expected profit report.

US stock and bond markets will be closed on Friday. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 1% to 34,730.28, while the Kospi in South Korea rose 0.5% to 2,483.42.

Taiwan’s Taiex gained 0.3% and regional tech companies advanced after global heavyweight Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. reported a profit for the latest quarter that matched analysts’ expectations. Perhaps more importantly, it also said it hasn’t seen a drop-off in activity from its customers because of President Donald Trump’s trade war, as some other companies have suggested.

Still, the company known as TSMC was cautious. “While we have not seen any changes in our customers’ behaviour so far, uncertainties and risks from the potential impact from tariff policies exist,” Chief Financial Officer Wendell Huang said. TSMC’s stock that trades in the United States added 0.1% on Thursday.

The Shanghai Composite index fell 0.1% to 3,276.73. Bangkok’s SET rose 0.6%. Many other markets were closed Friday for holidays ahead of Easter. On Thursday, the S&P 500 edged up by just 0.1%, even though three of every four stocks climbed in the index.

The Nasdaq composite slipped 0.1% in a mostly steadier performance following its sell-off the day before.

Nvidia weighed on the market after sinking a second straight day following its disclosure that new export limits on chips to China could hurt its first-quarter results by $5.5 billion. It sank 2.9% and was the second-heaviest weight on the S&P 500.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 527 points as insurer UnitedHealth Group fell 22.4%, its worst drop since 1998. The company cut its forecast for financial results this year and said its Medicare Advantage customers were getting more care than expected from doctors and outpatient services.

Stocks of companies in the oil-and-gas industry rallied after the price of crude recovered some of its sharp losses taken this month. Diamondback Energy jumped 5.7%, and Halliburton climbed 5.1%.

On Thursday, US benchmark crude oil gained $2.18 to $64.01 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, picked up $2.11 to $67.96 per barrel.

Oil trading was paused Friday for the Easter weekend. US President Donald Trump’s trade war remains a source of deep uncertainty. Economists worry his use of sharp tariff hikes could cause a recession if fully implemented and left in place for a while.

Trump on Thursday offered some encouraging signals that negotiations with other countries could lead to lower tariffs. But that was countered by his criticism of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who reiterated Wednesday that the tariffs are larger than what the central bank was expecting and could slow the economy and reignite inflation.

The tariffs create a dilemma for the Fed. If it cuts interest rates to help encourage more borrowing and spending, that would push prices higher.

Trump criticized that stance Thursday, saying the Fed is “always TOO LATE AND WRONG.” He also said, “Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!” An independent Fed able to act without influence from the White House a primary reason the United States has a reputation as a safe place to invest. History suggests central banks with more autonomy tend to have economies with lower and more stable inflation.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.32% from 4.29% late Wednesday. It had been easing for much of this week, following a climb last week that raised concerns that Trump’s trade war may be undermining confidence in US investments as the world’s safest.

Reports on the US economy came in mixed. One said fewer US workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than economists expected, suggesting the job market remains relatively solid. But a second report said manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region unexpectedly flipped to contraction from growth.

In Europe on Thursday, indexes slipped 0.6% in France and 0.5% in Germany. The European Central Bank cut its main interest rate. That usually pushes stock prices higher, but investors had already been expecting the move.

Early Friday, the US dollar bought 142.37 Japanese yen, down from 132.44 yen on Thursday. The euro rose to $1.1375 from $1.1367.

China stocks edge lower, set to end week flat SHANGHAI, April 18 (Reuters) - China stocks edged down on Friday and looked set to end the week flat, as the market took a breather following US President Donald Trump’s indication of a possible end to the tit-for-tat trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

The CSI300 Index has only dropped 3% since April 2 when Trump announced reciprocal tariffs that upended global stock markets, as state-backed investors stepped in to support markets and local bourses set daily restrictions on net share sales.

The Hong Kong market is closed for local holidays and will resume trading next Tuesday. For the short week, Hang Seng Index rose 2.3%.

Agencies