Asian Shares Climb Led By China And Hong Kong

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks advanced on Thursday after U.S. President Donald exempted automakers from newly imposed tariffs on Mexico and Canada for one month, raising hopes for negotiations.

The U.S. dollar declined ahead of key U.S. jobs data due on Friday and gold was slightly lower while oil prices rebounded after four straight sessions of losses on demand and oversupply concerns.

China's Shanghai Composite index rose 1.17 percent to 3,381.10 after Beijing pledged policy support for tech and consumption.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 3.29 percent to 24,369.71 ahead of the release of Chinese trade data on Friday.

Alibaba Group Holding shares soared 8.4 percent after the company announced a model that it claims provides DeepSeek-level performance with far less data. The company also said the model is more energy and cost efficient.

Japanese markets advanced as U.S. tariff worries receded. The Nikkei average jumped 0.77 percent to 37,704.93 while the broader Topix index settled 1.22 percent higher at 2,751.41.

Among the prominent gainers, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries soared 10.8 percent and IHI Corp gained 2.6 percent. Sony surged 4 percent, Nissan Motor rose 1.1 percent and Honda Motor climbed 2 percent, driven by yen weakness.

Seoul stocks rose notably as government data showed South Korea's consumer inflation softened in February for the first time in four months. The Kospi average climbed 0.70 percent to 2,576.16.

Defense-related stocks surged, with Hyundai Rotem rising 1.6 percent and LIG Nex1 rallying 5.8 percent after European governments such as Denmark and the U.K. announced boosts to defense spending.

Australian markets ended lower, dragged down by energy, technology and consumer stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.57 percent to 8,094.70 as trade balance figures for January lagged forecasts. The broader All Ordinaries index closed down 0.44 percent at 8,326.40.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index edged up by 0.14 percent to 12,428.84.

U.S. stocks rose sharply overnight after reports emerged that President Donald Trump was considering a one-month delay of auto tariffs on Canada and Mexico.

The White House later confirmed the exemption for automakers and said Trump was open to providing additional tariff exemptions.

A slew of economic data painted a mixed picture of the economy, with private payrolls increasing in February at the slowest pace in seven months while new orders for U.S. manufactured goods rebounded in January amid a surge in commercial aircraft bookings.

There was an unexpected rise in growth in the services sector in February, but signs of increased input prices tempered optimism.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rallied 1.5 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Dow both rose about 1.1 percent.