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Colombia formally agreed on Wednesday to join China’s vast Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, as Beijing draws Latin America closer in a bid to counter the United States.Latin America has emerged as a key battleground in US President Donald Trump’s confrontations with China, and the region is coming under pressure from Washington to choose a side.China has surpassed the United States as the biggest trading partner of Brazil, Peru, Chile and other Latin American nations, and two-thirds of countries there have signed up to Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road infrastructure drive.On the sidelines of a major gathering of regional leaders in Beijing on Wednesday, Colombia became the latest country to join the massive global initiative.Colombia’s foreign ministry hailed the agreement as a “historic step that opens up new opportunities for investment, technological cooperation, and sustainable development for both countries”.And after a meeting with Colombian President Gustavo Petro, Xi urged the countries to take the opportunity of Colombia formally joining the “Belt and Road Initiative family” to enhance their cooperation, Beijing’s state media said.Posting a video of the signing to social media platform X, Petro wrote that “the history of our foreign relations is changing”.”From now on, Colombia will interact with the entire world on a footing of equality and freedom,” he wrote.The BRI is a central pillar of Xi’s bid to expand China’s economic and political clout overseas.For more than a decade, it has provided investment for infrastructure and other large-scale projects around the world, offering Beijing political and economic leverage in return.Last year, Xi inaugurated Latin America’s first Beijing-funded port in Chancay, Peru — a symbol of the Asian superpower’s growing influence on the continent.- ‘Defenders of free trade’ -This week’s China-CELAC Forum in Beijing has seen China cast itself as the defender of the multilateral order and the backer of the Global South, with Xi pledging on Monday $9.2 billion in credit towards development.That pledge was part of a broad set of initiatives aimed at deepening cooperation, including on infrastructure and clean energy.Beijing will also cooperate in counterterrorism and fighting transnational organised crime, Xi said, as well as enhancing exchanges such as scholarships and training programmes.During a meeting with Chilean President Gabriel Boric on Wednesday, Xi said that the “resurgence of unilateralism and protectionism is severely impacting the international economic and trade order”, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua.”As staunch defenders of multilateralism and free trade, China and Chile should strengthen multilateral coordination and jointly safeguard the common interests of the Global South,” Xi told Boric.Also in attendance at the China-CELAC forum was Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who arrived in Beijing on Saturday for a five-day state visit.Addressing delegates, Lula said his region did not “want to repeat history and start a new Cold War”, adding: “Our goal is to be an asset to the multilateral order for a global good”.In talks with Lula on Tuesday, Xi said the two countries should “strengthen cooperation” and together “oppose unilateralism”, according to Chinese state media.The United States and China have faced off in Latin America, including over the Panama Canal, which Trump has for months vowed to reclaim from alleged Chinese influence.Washington considered a Hong Kong company’s operation of ports at both ends of the interoceanic waterway to be a threat to its national security, but Beijing has dismissed the claims.And China’s market regulator is looking into a deal by Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison to offload 43 ports in 23 countries — including its two on the Panama Canal — to a US-led consortium.The world’s two largest economies are two of the top users of the canal, through which five percent of all global shipping passes.

Inside one of South Korea’s oldest semiconductor research institutes, the cleanrooms and workshops are calm and immaculate, but outside the Seoul National University campus, a chip storm is brewing.Last month, Washington announced a national security probe into imports of semiconductor technology, which could put the industry in the crosshairs of President Donald Trump’s trade bazooka and inflict potentially devastating levies.For chipmaking powerhouses South Korea and Taiwan, the consequences could be enormous. South Korea is home to Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, while Taiwan hosts the world’s largest contract chipmaker, TSMC. Collectively, they produce a significant chunk of high-end chips that have become the lifeblood of the global economy, powering everything from smartphones to missiles.Taiwan exported $7.4 billion worth of semiconductors to the United States in 2024, while South Korea’s exports surged to $10.7 billion, a historic high. Experts say the spectre of looming tariffs has spurred stockpiling, with fears levies will drive up consumer prices and hurt chipmakers.The clear intention of Trump’s policies is to force the Asian chip giants to relocate production stateside, a former engineer at Taiwanese chip firm MediaTek told AFP.”TSMC going overseas to the US to build fabs is like paying protection money,” they said, adding that the projects barely made a profit with margins “super low” in high-cost America. “From the American point of view, it’s logical to sacrifice the rest of the world for its own interests, only that we happen to be the ones being sacrificed,” the engineer said.- A ‘heavy blow’ -The US president’s tolls could be “quite complex”, Kim Yang-paeng, senior researcher at Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade (KIET), told AFP.Rather than hitting the industry with a blanket levy, the United States could target different products such as HBM, which is essential for high-speed computing, and DRAM, which is used for memory.Any significant tariffs on the sector, which relies on complex manufacturing chains to produce high-end tech products, would be a “heavy blow”, the MediaTek engineer said.Samsung, the world’s largest memory chipmaker, and leading memory chip supplier SK hynix rely heavily on indirect exports to the United States via China, Taiwan and Vietnam.For example, Samsung produces television panels in South Korea, which are then assembled into finished televisions in Vietnam before being shipped to the United States.For these companies, there is “concern about a decline in demand due to rising prices in other sectors using semiconductors”, said Jung Jae-wook, professor at Sogang University.Meanwhile, Seoul and Washington are negotiating a “trade package” aimed at preventing new US tariffs before the July 8 expiration of Trump’s pause in his “reciprocal” levies.- Few alternatives -US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is expected to visit South Korea for the APEC trade ministers’ meeting this week.Experts say that in the short term, chips like HBM are less likely to be impacted by tariff wars owing to strong demand driven by artificial intelligence. And unlike many other sectors such as the auto industry — which is already hit by tariffs — “semiconductors have no substitutes from the US perspective”, said Kim Dae-jong, a professor at Sejong University.It is also not feasible to shift chip production entirely stateside, given America’s limited capacity, so any measures “are unlikely to be sustained in the long run”, said Sogang University’s Jung.”There are not many alternative countries (the United States) can rely on for imports, making price increases inevitable if tariffs are imposed,” he said. While Washington is eager to bolster domestic production, South Korea and Taiwan are keenly aware of the strategic significance of the industry and are not likely to give up capacity.For Taiwan, semiconductors are a matter of national security, said Kim from KIET. “Taiwan may expand its manufacturing presence in the United States, but significant changes to its domestic semiconductor ecosystem are unlikely.”Back at the Seoul National University semiconductor institute, its director, Lee Hyuk-jae — who is also an outside director for Samsung — spends his days urging the government to invest more in the sector, which he says “holds great importance” for the country. 

The United States and China slashed sweeping tariffs on each others’ goods for 90 days on Wednesday, after a temporary ceasefire in a brutal trade war that roiled global markets and international supply chains.Washington and Beijing agreed to drastically lower skyhigh tariffs in a deal that emerged from pivotal talks at the weekend in Geneva.US President Donald Trump said Washington now had the blueprint for a “very, very strong” trade deal with China that would see Beijing’s economy “open up” to US businesses, in an interview broadcast Tuesday on Fox News.”We have the confines of a very, very strong deal with China. But the most exciting part of the deal…that’s the opening up of China to US business,” he told the US broadcaster while aboard Air Force One on the way to the start of his Gulf tour.”One of the things I think that could be most exciting for us and also for China, is that we’re trying to open up China,” he added, without elaborating on details.Trump had upended international commerce with his sweeping tariffs across economies, with China hit hardest. Unwilling to budge, Beijing had responded with retaliatory levies that brought tariffs on both sides well over 100 percent.After billions were wiped off equities and with businesses ailing, negotiations finally got underway at the weekend in Geneva between the world’s trade superpowers to find a way out of the impasse. Under the deal, the United States agreed to lower its tariffs on Chinese goods to 30 percent while China will reduce its own to 10 percent — down by over 100 percentage points.The reductions came into effect just after midnight Washington time (0401 GMT) on Wednesday, a major de-escalation in trade tensions that saw US tariffs on Chinese imports soar to up to 145 percent and even as high as 245 percent on some products.Markets have rallied in the glow of the China-US tariff suspension.Chinese officials have kept their cards closer to their chests, pitching themselves at a summit in Beijing with Latin American leaders this week as a stable partner and defender of globalisation.”There are no winners in tariff wars or trade wars,” Xi told leaders including Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, while his top diplomat Wang Yi swiped at a “major power” that believed “might makes right”.- ‘Risk of renewed escalation’ -Deep sources of tension remain, too — the US additional tariff rate remains higher than China’s because it includes a 20 percent levy over Trump’s complaints about Chinese exports of chemicals used to make fentanyl.Washington has long accused Beijing of turning a blind eye to the fentanyl trade, something China denies.And while the US said it sees room for progress on the issue, Beijing on Tuesday warned Washington to “stop smearing and shifting blame” onto it.Analysts also warn that the possibility of tariffs coming back into force after 90 days simply piles on more uncertainty.”Further tariff reductions will be difficult and the risk of renewed escalation persists,” Yue Su, Principal Economist at The Economist Intelligence Unit, told AFP.Trump’s rollercoaster tariff row with Beijing has wreaked havoc on US companies that rely on Chinese manufacturing, with a temporary de-escalation only expected to partially calm the storm.And Beijing officials have admitted that China’s economy — already ailing from a protracted property crisis and sluggish consumer spending — is likewise being affected by the trade uncertainty.”Both sides have endured a good deal of economic pain and they can still endure a little bit more,” Dylan Loh, an assistant professor at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, told AFP.

Japanese entertainment and electronics giant Sony on Wednesday reported an 18 percent jump in annual net profit but issued a cautious forecast for the current financial year.The firm logged a net profit of 1.14 trillion yen ($7.7 billion) for the 2024-25 financial year, but said it expects that to fall 13 percent to 930 billion yen in 2025-26.It comes as US President Donald Trump’s sweeping, on-and-off tariffs threaten the bottom line of companies worldwide.”We are responding quickly to the additional US tariffs that have already been implemented and are considering responses to multiple possible future scenarios,” the company said in a note alongside its profit forecasts.”We currently expect to be able to manage the impact on the profitability to approximately 100 billion yen, or less than 10 percent of the operating income forecast.”Sony had in February hiked its annual forecasts, following robust sales of games, music and other products in the October-December holiday shopping season.Its “video game, music and film businesses are showing steady performance”, Rakuten Securities chief analyst Yasuo Imanaka said in a note last month.For the key gaming sector, “the next fiscal year to March 2026 is also expected to see steady growth”, he added.”Regarding the rise in US tariffs, (Sony) will likely be able to deal with it for the time being as it has stockpiled inventory in the United States,” Imanaka said.”But if high tariffs continue, the longer term impact is unclear,” he warned.Sony in April said it had hiked the price of some PlayStation 5 consoles in select markets, but not the United States, because of “challenging” global economic conditions.But it has not touched the cost of the higher-priced, higher-spec PS5 Pro console, which hit shelves in November.Masahiro Wakasugi of Bloomberg Intelligence also said ahead of Wednesday’s earnings that “tariffs are likely to be a headwind next year”.But “the music and picture division’s earnings can also expand strongly thanks to the high popularity of its streaming music and movies”.Music streaming is a money-spinner for Sony, which has an impressive back catalogue and a current roster that includes artists such as Beyonce and Lil Nas X.

The United States and China will lift sweeping tariffs on each others’ goods for 90 days on Wednesday, after a temporary ceasefire in a brutal trade war that roiled global markets and international supply chains.Washington and Beijing had agreed to drastically lower skyhigh tariffs in a deal that emerged from pivotal talks at the weekend in Geneva.US President Donald Trump said Washington now had the blueprint for a “very, very strong” trade deal with China that would see Beijing’s economy “open up” to US businesses, in an interview broadcast Tuesday on Fox News.”We have the confines of a very, very strong deal with China. But the most exciting part of the deal…that’s the opening up of China to US business,” he told the US broadcaster while aboard Air Force One on the way to the start of his Gulf tour.”One of the things I think that could be most exciting for us and also for China, is that we’re trying to open up China,” he added, without elaborating on details.Trump had upended international commerce with his sweeping tariffs across economies, with China hit hardest. Unwilling to budge, Beijing had responded with retaliatory levies that brought tariffs on both sides well over 100 percent.After billions were wiped off equities and with businesses ailing, negotiations finally got underway at the weekend in Geneva between the world’s trade superpowers to find a way out of the impasse. Under the deal, the United States agreed to lower its tariffs on Chinese goods to 30 percent while China will reduce its own to 10 percent — down by over 100 percentage points.The reductions will come into effect just after midnight Washington time (0401 GMT) on Wednesday, a major de-escalation in trade tensions that saw US tariffs on Chinese imports soar to up to 145 percent and even as high as 245 percent on some products.Markets rallied in the glow of the China-US tariff suspension.Chinese officials have kept their cards closer to their chests, pitching themselves at a summit in Beijing with Latin American leaders this week as a stable partner and defender of globalisation.”There are no winners in tariff wars or trade wars,” Xi told leaders including Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, while his top diplomat Wang Yi swiped at a “major power” that believed “might makes right”.- ‘Risk of renewed escalation’ -Deep sources of tension remain, too — the US additional tariff rate remains higher than China’s because it includes a 20 percent levy over Trump’s complaints about Chinese exports of chemicals used to make fentanyl.Washington has long accused Beijing of turning a blind eye to the fentanyl trade, something China denies.And while the US said it sees room for progress on the issue, Beijing on Tuesday warned Washington to “stop smearing and shifting blame” onto it.Analysts also warn that the possibility of tariffs coming back into force after 90 days simply piles on more uncertainty.”Further tariff reductions will be difficult and the risk of renewed escalation persists,” Yue Su, Principal Economist at The Economist Intelligence Unit, told AFP.Trump’s rollercoaster tariff row with Beijing has wreaked havoc on US companies that rely on Chinese manufacturing, with a temporary de-escalation only expected to partially calm the storm.And Beijing officials have admitted that China’s economy — already ailing from a protracted property crisis and sluggish consumer spending — is likewise being affected by the trade uncertainty.”Both sides have endured a good deal of economic pain and they can still endure a little bit more,” Dylan Loh, an assistant professor at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, told AFP.

Asian stocks fluctuated Wednesday, with investors struggling to track a strong day on Wall Street as euphoria over the China-US trade detente petered out.But while the days of breathtaking volatility seen through April appear to be over for now, analysts warned that more work was needed for Washington to reach tariff deals with countries and instill a sense of stability.Data showing US inflation unexpectedly slowed last month provided some cheer, though observers pointed out that the real impact of Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tolls will not likely be felt until May’s readings.The US president on Tuesday played up a deal with Beijing.”We have the confines of a very, very strong deal with China. But the most exciting part of the deal… that’s the opening up of China to US business,” he told Fox News.His remarks were made aboard Air Force One as he headed off on his Gulf tour, with Saudi Arabia on Tuesday pledging $600 billion worth of US investments in a range of sectors from defence to artificial intelligence.The agreements — including a huge chip deal for Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices — would boost US jobs, and the stock market is “gonna go a lot higher”, Trump said, citing an “explosion of investment and jobs”.The tech-rich Nasdaq rallied with the S&P 500, which broke back into positive territory for the year, helped slightly by the inflation data.But Asia struggled to extend the rally.Hong Kong, Seoul, Jakarta and Taipei rose more than one percent but Wellington and Manila were flat, while Tokyo, Shanghai, Sydney and Singapore fell.Oil, which had enjoyed a four-day rally on demand optimism and Trump’s warnings to Iran over a nuclear deal, also edged down.Analysts said that while the China deal was welcome, investors were now bracing for the next developments in the US president’s trade standoff with the world as countries look to strike deals with the White House to avert stiff tariffs.”Remember it’s an armistice not a peace treaty — and the tariffs are still at these levels worse than we had before,” Neil Wilson at Saxo Markets said.”Let’s be honest, the market knows this script by heart: Trump escalates. Markets tumble. Back-channels open. China blinks. A deal gets made. Risk rallies,” added Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.”The fog has lifted — for now. Whether this cycle brings more sustainable upside or just sets up the next tantrum remains to be seen,” he said.Still, the dialling down of tensions with China saw JPMorgan Chase predict the US economy would grow this year, reversing its earlier forecast for a contraction caused by the tariffs.Investors are also awaiting the release of earnings from Chinese tech titans Alibaba and Tencent, which could provide an idea about how the market heavyweights are coping with the trade upheaval and uncertainty in the world’s number two economy.- Key figures at around 0230 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.8 percent at 37,874.59 (break)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 1.2 percent at 23,390.30Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.1 percent at 3,372.40Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1186 from $1.1189 on TuesdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3308 from $1.3304Dollar/yen: DOWN at 147.21 yen from 147.47 yenEuro/pound: UP at 84.08 pence from 84.07 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.4 percent at $63.44 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.4 percent at $66.39 per barrelNew York – Dow: DOWN 0.6 percent at 42,140.43 (close)London – FTSE 100: FLAT at 8,602.92 (close)

Wall Street stocks mostly rose Tuesday while oil prices advanced, extending a rally as the improved state of US-China trade boosts the economic outlook. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq finished solidly higher following benign US inflation data while the Dow retreated after weakness in UnitedHealth Group shares.Markets continued to cheer the US-China announcement Monday of a de-escalation of trade tensions. The two countries agreed to significantly lower levies for 90 days while they work to hash out an agreement.The tech-rich Nasdaq led major US indices, winning 1.6 percent.Oil prices also climbed more than two percent as traders pencil in more oil demand.”It seems as if the euphoria that was ignited yesterday or over the weekend has continued into today at least for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq,” said Sam Stovall of CFRA Research.The consumer price index eased to 2.3 percent in April from a year ago, a tick below the 2.4 percent figure recorded in March.Some analysts cautioned that it was still too early to see the implications of US President Donald Trump’s tariff policies, some of which have been rolled back or suspended.But the weaker inflation data put pressure on the dollar, with more traders betting the Federal Reserve will soon cut interest rates.In Europe, London closed barely changed, while Paris and Frankfurt both ticked up 0.3 percent.Asian equities had finished with strong gains, in their catch-up session digesting Wall Street’s jump on Monday, although Hong Kong dropped nearly two percent on profit-taking.On the corporate front, the big focus was on the auto sector after major news out of Japan.Nissan posted an annual net loss of $4.5 billion, confirmed plans to slash 15 percent of its global workforce and warned about the possible impact of US tariffs.The carmaker, whose mooted merger with Honda collapsed this year, is heavily indebted and engaged in an expensive business restructuring plan.For its part, Honda on Tuesday forecast a 70-percent drop in net profit for the 2025-26 financial year.”The impact of tariff policies in various countries on our business has been very significant, and frequent revisions are being made, making it difficult to formulate an outlook,” said Honda chief executive Toshihiro Mibe.- Key figures at around 2050 GMT -New York – Dow: DOWN 0.6 percent at 42,140.43 (close)New York – S&P 500: UP 0.7 percent at 5,886.55 (close)New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 1.6 percent at 19,010.08 (close)London – FTSE 100: FLAT at 8,602.92 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.3 percent at 7,873.83 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.3 percent at 23,638.56 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 1.4 percent at 38,183.26 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.9 percent at 23,108.27 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 3,374.87 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1189 from $1.1087 on MondayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3304 from $1.3176Dollar/yen: DOWN at 147.47 yen from 148.46 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 84.07 pence from 84.14 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 2.6 percent at $66.63 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 2.8 percent at $63.67 per barrelburs-jmb/jgc

Stocks traded mixed and the dollar dipped on Tuesday as the rally from the previous day faded despite cool US inflation data easing concerns about the economy.Temporary US-China tariff reductions announced on Monday still firmed up oil prices, however. They extended gains as investors’ fears of blocked trade between the world’s two largest economies were quelled.But “the US dollar rally seems to be momentarily running out of steam,” said Axel Rudolph, senior technical analyst for trading platform IG.In midday New York trading, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were trading in positive territory, while the Dow was showing small losses.In Europe, London closed barely changed, while Paris and Frankfurt both ticked up 0.3 percent.Asian equities had finished with strong gains, in their catch-up session digesting Wall Street’s jump on Monday, although Hong Kong dropped nearly two percent on profit-taking.”Both the Nasdaq 100 and the S&P 500 are trading back in positive territory for the year as US inflation unexpectedly slows and China lowers tariffs on US goods,” said Rudolph.Data released on Tuesday showed US consumer inflation cooled slightly in April, despite financial markets that month being spooked by President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.The US consumer price index eased to 2.3 percent in April from a year ago, a shade below the 2.4 percent figure recorded in March, the Labor Department said in a statement. “This data suggests that the US economy was in good shape in April, that tariffs are not showing up in the inflation data yet, and that demand for services remains strong,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare said investor sentiment has also been comforted by progress made by US lawmakers on their budget plans, which include tax cuts.”The stock market finds itself in a hopeful state that is allowing for a better-than-feared economic and earnings outlook,” he said.But eToro market analyst Lale Akoner said stubbornly high housing and other sticky core elements in US inflation shored up a wait-and-see stance by the US Federal Reserve while it weighs a possible rate cut.”For now, this mixed bag validates the Fed’s cautious stance,” she said. “There’s no urgency to cut, but no clear case for tightening either.”Investors are now pricing in a first-quarter percentage point rate cut in September. On the corporate front, focus was on the auto sector after major news out of Japan.Nissan posted a annual net loss of $4.5 billion, confirmed plans to slash 15 percent of its global workforce and warned about the possible impact of US tariffs.The carmaker, whose mooted merger with Honda collapsed this year, is heavily indebted and engaged in an expensive business restructuring plan.For its part, Honda on Tuesday forecast a 70-percent drop in net profit for the 2025-26 financial year.”The impact of tariff policies in various countries on our business has been very significant, and frequent revisions are being made, making it difficult to formulate an outlook,” said Honda chief executive Toshihiro Mibe.- Key figures at around 1530 GMT -New York – Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 42,277.05 pointsNew York – S&P 500: UP 0.9 percent at 5,896.01New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 1.6 percent at 19,007.40London – FTSE 100: FLAT at 8,602.92 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.3 percent at 7,873.83 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.3 percent at 23,638.56 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 1.4 percent at 38,183.26 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.9 percent at 23,108.27 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 3,374.87 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1177 from $1.1089 on MondayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3279 from $1.3173Dollar/yen: DOWN at 147.83 yen from 148.38 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 84.15 pence from 84.18 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 1.9 percent at $66.17 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 2.2 percent at $63.28 per barrelburs-rmb/rl

European stock markets and the dollar steadied Tuesday after kicking off the week with strong gains as investors basked in the glow of the China-US tariff suspension.Asian equities, catching up with big advances Monday on Wall Street, saw further rallies Tuesday, although Hong Kong dropped nearly two percent on profit-taking.Oil prices firmed further on hopes that the global economy would avoid a tariffs-fuelled recession.”European markets are making moderate gains… as stocks take a breather after yesterday’s widespread exuberance,” noted Joshua Mahony, analyst at Scope Markets.”The tariff breakthrough seen over the weekend managed to outperform even the most optimistic.”The United States agreed to temporarily reduce its 145-percent duties on China to 30 percent, while Beijing cut its retaliatory measures to 10 percent from 125 percent.Wall Street’s main indices surged by an average of around 3.5 percent Monday, while a gauge of US-listed Chinese stocks surged more than five percent.”Clearly, US-China trade talks have yielded much faster success than many had expected,” HSBC strategists concluded in a note to clients.They cautioned that “things could easily turn out a bit bumpier in future trade negotiations”.- Auto sector -On the corporate front, focus was on the auto sector after major news out of Japan.Nissan posted a annual net loss of $4.5 billion, confirmed plans to slash 15 percent of its global workforce and warned about the possible impact of US tariffs.The carmaker, whose mooted merger with Honda collapsed this year, is heavily indebted and engaged in an expensive business restructuring plan.For its part, Honda on Tuesday forecast a 70 percent drop in net profit for the 2025-26 financial year.”The impact of tariff policies in various countries on our business has been very significant, and frequent revisions are being made, making it difficult to formulate an outlook,” said Honda chief executive Toshihiro Mibe.French automaker Renault said it expects to book a 2.2-billion-euro ($2.4-billion) hit in the first quarter owing to partner Nissan’s turnaround plan, which sees 20,000 jobs axed.- Key figures at around 1035 GMT -London – FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 8,616.31 pointsParis – CAC 40: UP 0.1 percent at 7,854.70Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.2 percent at 23,601.09 Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 1.4 percent at 38,183.26 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.9 percent at 23,108.27 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 3,374.87 (close)New York – Dow: UP 2.8 percent at 42,410.10 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1106 from $1.1089 on MondayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3214 from $1.3173Dollar/yen: DOWN at 148.02 yen from 148.38 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 84.05 pence from 84.18 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.7 percent at $65.42 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.8 percent at $62.45 per barrelburs-bcp/ajb/lth

Japan’s Nissan posted an annual net loss of $4.5 billion on Tuesday while saying it plans to cut 15 percent of its global workforce and warning about the possible impact of US tariffs.The heavily indebted carmaker, whose mooted merger with Honda collapsed this year, is slashing production as part of its expensive business turnaround plan.”Nissan must prioritise self-improvement with greater urgency and speed,” CEO Ivan Espinosa told reporters.”The reality is clear. We have a very high cost structure. To complicate matters further, the global market environment is volatile and unpredictable, making planning and investment increasingly challenging.”Nissan reported a net loss of 671 billion yen ($4.5 billion) for the financial year to March 2025.Its worst ever full-year net loss was 684 billion yen in 1999-2000, during a crisis that birthed its rocky partnership with French automaker Renault.Renault, which has nearly a 36 percent stake in Nissan, said Tuesday it expects to take a 2.2-billion-euro ($2.4-billion) hit in the first quarter due to Nissan’s turnaround plan.Nissan did not issue a net profit forecast for 2025-2026, only saying that it expects to see sales of 12.5 trillion yen.”The uncertain nature of US tariff measures makes it difficult for us to rationally estimate our full-year forecast for operating profit and net profit, and therefore we have left those figures unspecified,” Espinosa said.Nissan’s shares closed three percent higher Tuesday after reports, later confirmed by the company, that it planned to slash a total of 20,000 jobs worldwide.”We wouldn’t be doing this if it was not necessary to survive,” Espinosa said of the cuts.- Junk ratings -Nissan, as part of recovery efforts, also said it would “consolidate its vehicle production plants from 17 to 10 by fiscal year 2027″.”In China, we will strengthen our market performance by unleashing multiple new-energy vehicles,” it added.Like many peers, Nissan is finding it difficult to compete against Chinese electric vehicle brands.A merger with Japanese rival Honda had been seen as a potential lifeline but talks collapsed in February when the latter proposed making Nissan a subsidiary.Espinosa said Tuesday that Nissan remained “open to collaborating with multiple partners”, including Honda.Nissan has faced numerous speed bumps in recent years — including the 2018 arrest of former boss Carlos Ghosn, who later fled Japan concealed in an audio equipment box.The automaker, whose shares have tanked nearly 40 percent over the past year, appointed Espinosa CEO in March.Ratings agencies have downgraded the firm to junk, with Moody’s citing its “weak profitability” and “ageing model portfolio”.And this month Nissan shelved plans, only recently agreed, to build a $1 billion battery plant in southern Japan owing to the tough “business environment”.Of Japan’s major automakers, Nissan is likely to be the most severely impacted by US President Donald Trump’s 25 percent tariff on imported vehicles, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Tatsuo Yoshida told AFP ahead of Tuesday’s earnings report.Its clientele has historically been more price-sensitive than that of its rivals, he said.So the company “can’t pass the costs on to consumers to the same extent as Toyota or Honda without suffering a significant loss in sales units”, he added.