Markets gain after Trump says he has no plans to oust Fed chief

The positive wave moved across most of Asia. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.7%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 2.4%, and the Kospi in South Korea 1.5%.

A market rebound that started on Wall Street continued in Asia on Wednesday after President Donald Trump said he had “no intention” of firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

The statement, along with reports that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told investors that he expected the tariff standoff with China to ease “over the very near future,” helped calm the latest trade war jitters. The 2.5 per cent gain by the S&P 500 on Tuesday reversed the previous day’s 2.4 per cent slide.

The positive wave moved across most of Asia. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.7 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 2.4 per cent, and the Kospi in South Korea 1.5 per cent.

And S&P 500 futures signaled a 1.4 per cent gain when trading begins later on Wednesday. But for many investors, this week’s rebound remains an uptick, and the trade tensions have left Wall Street captive to the latest statements from the White House. The S&P 500, the main benchmark for US equities, sits nearly 12 per cent below its level on Jan 20, when Trump took office.

Elsewhere in the markets:

— Leading the stock gains in Asia was Taiwan, where the benchmark index was up 3.9 per cent. Markets in Taiwan, whose technology supply chain could be damaged by the tariffs, have been hammered since Trump took office.

— The dollar regained some of its losses in recent days. It was up 0.3 per cent against the yen, and against the euro and British pound, it gained 0.2 per cent.

— Ten-year Treasury bonds gained, a sign that investors were more willing to buy US debt. The yield, which moves inversely to price, dropped 15 basis points, to 4.35 per cent.

— Oil futures rose 0.6 per cent.

— Gold, which hit a record $3,500 an ounce on Tuesday, continued easing back from that price. Its price fell to $3,334 on Tuesday, down 1.4 per cent for the day.