Investing.com - Asian stocks rose in morning trade on Monday as stronger-than-expected China trade and credit data released on Friday boosted investor sentiment.
China’s Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component both rose 1.8% by 10:30 PM ET (02:30 GMT). Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was up 1.2%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.3%, while South Korea’s KOSPI edged up 0.7%.
Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump had threatened to impose levies of as much as 25% on all imported cars, including those made in Japan.
“Japan is now negotiating,” Trump told reporters. “They haven’t wanted to negotiate for many years, but now they’re negotiating. It’s called ‘tariffs.’”
Down under, Australia’s ASX 200 edged down 0.1%.
The release of China’s trade and credit data on Friday, which came better than expected, eased concerns about a global economic growth slowdown provided some continuing support to Asian equities today.
The data came a couple of days after the International Monetary Fund slashed its global economic growth forecast for 2019.
Meanwhile, positive developments in the Sino-U.S. trade talks also lifted investor sentiment.
It was reported earlier last week that the two sides have agreed on an enforcement mechanism to police any trade deal they agree on in the future.
“There are certain commitments that the United States is making in this agreement, and there are certain commitments that China is making,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters Saturday at the IMF meetings in Washington.
“I would expect that the enforcement mechanism works in both directions, that we expect to honor our commitments, and if we don’t, there should be certain repercussions, and the same way in the other direction,” he said, adding that the two countries are considering to hold more in-person meetings.