May 15th, 2025
Create an account or log in to unlock unlimited access!
Stock markets in Asia had different results on Tuesday. People were happy at first about the 90-day stop in the trade disagreement between the US and China, but this feeling did not last. Experts said that President Trump's decisions could change quickly.
The United States and China will lower the taxes on things they buy from each other. The U.S. will lower taxes on Chinese goods to 30% from 145%. China will lower taxes on U.S. goods to 10% from 125%. This gives them more time to talk after their meetings in Switzerland. The U.S. said they made good progress in these talks.
The result was better than most people thought, and this made investors feel more secure, Stephen Innes from SPI Asset Management said.
He said it was planned very carefully, but it looked good and had real effects. It shows that even this government knows that always having tariffs is bad for the economy.
But there are still big problems in the talks between China and the US, and many countries in Asia have not yet made deals to lower taxes on goods.
Beijing is still angry about the trade war. China's leader, Xi Jinping, spoke to officials from China and Latin America on Tuesday. He said that no one wins a trade war. He also said that trying to control others makes you alone.
In Tokyo, the stock market called Nikkei 225 went up by 1.6% to 38,232.21. Car companies did well. For example, Toyota went up 3.7% and Suzuki went up 4.3%.
The price of Nissan shares went up by 3.4%. This happened after the company said they would cut 10,000 jobs. This means they will cut a total of 20,000 jobs. Nissan is doing this to make the company better. Nissan was going to share their money results later on Tuesday.
The stock market in South Korea, called the Kospi, did not change much. It stayed at about 2,606 points.
The Hong Kong stock market went down 1.5% because people sold many technology stocks.
The Shanghai market went up a little, by 0.2%, to 3,376.22, and Taiwan's market went up a lot, by 1%.
The main stock market in Australia went up a little, by 0.5%, to 8,274.70 points.
On Monday, the two biggest economies in the world agreed to lower most of the taxes on things they sell to each other.
This made the S&P 500 go up 3.3%. It is now close to its highest point ever, which was in February. Before, it went down a lot, almost 20%. But last month, it went up again. This happened because people hope President Donald Trump will lower taxes on goods from other countries after he makes agreements with them.
A main stock index, used in many retirement accounts, is now higher than it was on April 2nd. On that day, Trump announced new taxes on imports from other countries. This made people worry about a possible recession.
The Dow Jones went up a lot (2.8%) and the Nasdaq went up even more (4.3%).
The price of oil went down a little after it went up on Monday.
On Monday, the US dollar got stronger compared to the euro and the Japanese yen. On Tuesday morning, the dollar was a little weaker against the yen. It changed from 148.47 yen to 147.98 yen. But it got stronger against the euro. It went from $1.1088 to $1.1113.
The US and China stopped putting extra taxes on goods for a while. This happened after the US and UK agreed to lower taxes on goods from the UK.
Reports about the economy this week, like about prices and how people feel, might show how much the worry about taxes has hurt the economy.
Many shops did well because they sell things from China and other parts of Asia. Best Buy went up by 6.6%, and Amazon went up by 8.1%.
Smaller companies in the U.S. did very well. Their success depends on how strong the U.S. economy is. This is more true for them than for bigger companies. An index that follows these companies, called the Russell 2000, went up by 3.4%.
Companies that make clothes and buy a lot from China also did well. For example, Lululemon's shares went up 8.7% and Nike's went up 7.3%.
May 15th, 2025
Good news: People in the US feel better about the economy after worries about taxes
US and Europe Trade Fight: What Trump Wants and What Europe Can Give
Salesforce to Buy Informatica for About $8 Billion
Companies in Europe Reduce Spending and Investment in China Due to Slower Economy
Walmart: Prices Go Up Because of New Taxes
Starbucks Workers Strike Over New Uniform Rules
Japan's Economy Gets Smaller: Trade Problems Hurt Sales and Worry People
Stocks Go Up After Central Bank Says Economy Has Risks
Trump, Trade Deals, and Confusing Tariffs
Create an account or log in to continue reading and join the Lingo Times community!