Asian shares mostly climb after a rally for Apple leads Wall Street higher

Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top left, and the foreign exchange rate between US dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea on Aug 7. (AP)

MANILA, Philippines, Aug 7, (AP): Asian shares mostly advanced and financial markets appeared to show scant if any reaction to higher tariffs on exports to the United States that took effect early Thursday. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.6% to 41,059.15. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 0.6% to 25,058.22 and the Shanghai Composite added 0.2% to 3,639.67. China reported that its exports picked up in July, helped by a flurry of shipments by businesses taking advantage of a pause in USPresident Donald Trump’s tariff war with Beijing.

South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.9% to 3,227.68, while the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia shed 0.1% to 8,831.40. India’s Sensex gave up 0.5% after Trump ordered tariffs on imports from the world’s most populous nation to rise to 50%, citing its crude oil imports from Russia. Trump also declared 100% tariffs on computer chips with an exemption for US investments.

Apple’s shares rose 5.1% on Wednesday ahead of a White House event where it announced an increase to its US investments of an additional $100 billion over the next four years. Mizuho Bank, in a commentary, said the Trump’s exemption from 100% tariffs on semiconductors for those with investments in U.S. production means some US trading partners may be able to use their investments in the U.S. as a bargaining chip.

Taiwan’s Taiex jumped 2.4% as shares in market heavyweight Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. surged 4.9%. TSMC is the world’s largest contract maker of computer chips and it has been ramping up its investments in US factory capacity, helping to alleviate the impact from higher tariffs. South Korean chipmakers also saw strong gains, with Samsung Electronics jumping 2.1% after the government said its products would also be subject to the exemption.

On Wednesday, a rally for Apple led Wall Street higher, with U.S. stocks reclaiming more of their sharp losses from last week. The S&P 500 rose 0.7% to 6,345.06. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2% to 44,193.12, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.2% to 21,169.42. Apple alone accounted for more than a third of the S&P 500’s gain.

Trading elsewhere on Wall Street was mixed following a jumble of profit reports. McDonald’s and Shopify rose following their latest updates, while Super Micro Computer tumbled after its earnings and revenue came in below analysts’ expectations. The Walt Disney Co. fell after its earnings beat forecasts but its revenue fell short