Asia-Pacific markets concluded the trading session with a mixed performance as investors evaluated the outcomes of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit held in Tianjin, amid prevailing tariff uncertainties that impacted market sentiment. A U.S. federal appeals court ruled on Friday that the majority of President Donald Trump’s global tariffs are illegal.
India’s markets garnered attention following Trump’s statement that the country had proposed to eliminate its tariffs on U.S. imports entirely. “They have now offered to eliminate their tariffs entirely, but time is running out.” “They should have done so years ago,” Trump stated on Truth Social. He remarked that the US’s relationship with India was “one sided.” India’s benchmark Nifty 50 experienced an increase of 0.29%, while the BSE Sensex index saw an advancement of 0.26% as of 1:40 p.m. Indian Standard Time (4:10 a.m. Eastern Time).
Japan’s Nikkei 225 concluded the trading session with a gain of 0.29%, closing at 42,310.49 following a day of volatile trading. Meanwhile, the broader Topix index experienced an increase of 0.61%, finishing at 3,081.88. Suntory Beverage & Food has garnered attention due to reports of its CEO and Chairman, Takeshi Niinami, resigning amid a police investigation concerning his acquisition of a potentially illegal supplement. The shares of the Japanese producer of soft drinks and wellness food products concluded the trading session with an increase of 2.94%.
In South Korea, the Kospi index experienced an increase of 0.94%, reaching 3,172.35, while the small-cap Kosdaq rose by 1.15% to 794. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong experienced a decline of 0.47%, concluding at 25,496.55, whereas the CSI 300 in mainland China decreased by 0.74%, finishing at 4,490.45.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined by 0.3%, concluding the day at 8,900.60. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission announced that its review panel has levied a fine of 3.88 million Australian dollars on a local subsidiary of French lender Societe Generale for its inability to prevent suspicious orders in the electricity and wheat futures markets. An investigation by the regulatory body revealed that Societe Generale Securities Australia, a prominent player in the ASX 24 derivatives market, permitted two of its clients to execute 33 suspicious orders from May 2023 to February 2024. The panel noted that the “volatile period” was characterized by supply issues in global energy and wheat markets, influenced by the Russia-Ukrainian War, among other factors.
Meanwhile, the country’s current account balance for the April to June quarter recorded a deficit of AU$13.7 billion, a slight improvement from the AU$14.7 billion deficit in the previous quarter and better than the AU$16 billion deficit anticipated by analysts surveyed