Asia-Pacific markets rose Thursday, following Wall Street's biggest burst of buying since 2008 after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on higher tariffs on all nations bar China.
Japanese markets led gains in the region. The benchmark Nikkei 225 closed 9.13% higher at 34,609 while the broader Topix index advanced 8.09% to 2,539.40.
South Korea's Kospi index surged 6.60% to close at 2,445.06 while the small-cap Kosdaq gained 5.97% to 681.79.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 4.54% to end the day at 7,709.60.
Mainland China's CSI 300 rose 1.31% to end the day at 3,735.32 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 2.06% to close at 20,681.78.
The U.S. raised duties on imports from the China to 125% after Beijing announced plans to retaliate with an 84% levy on American goods.
T. Rowe Price's Wenli Zheng said the jump in tariffs on Chinese exports to the U.S. from over 50% to over 100% is "effectively prohibitive and are likely to cause substantial trade disruptions."
The impact on China's overall economy, however, will be less direct, Zheng, who is portfolio manager of the China Evolution Equity Strategy at the asset management house, wrote in a Thursday note.
"To assess the tariff's impact on China's economy, consider that exports constitute 18% of China's GDP, with direct exports to the U.S. accounting for 15% of that figure. This translates to approximately 2.7% of China's GDP, or 3%-3.5% when including trade diversions and re-exports of intermediate goods." he explained.
Drawing reference to the MSCI China Index, Zheng noted that companies on the index have a "surprisingly low revenue exposure to the U.S. at around 1%," since much of China's exports are to multinational corporations or Taiwanese Original Equipment Manufacturers.
Still, he noted that Chinese companies may still suffer secondary impacts of a weakened economy.
India markets were closed for a holiday.
U.S. futures fell, even as Trump's pledge to pause tariffs on some trading partners for 90 days spurred a massive surge on Wall Street.
Overnight stateside, the broad-based S&P 500 skyrocketed 9.52% to settle at 5,456.90 for its biggest one-day gain since 2008. This also marks its third-biggest gain in post-WWII history.
Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 2,962.86 points, or 7.87%, to close at 40,608.45 for its biggest percentage advance since March 2020. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 12.16% to end at 17,124.97, notching its largest one-day jump since January 2001 and second-best day ever.
— CNBC's John Melloy and Hakyung Kim contributed to this report.
Correction: This story has been revised to reflect that India markets are closed for a holiday.
