[HONG KONG] Asian stocks rose on Monday as trade war fears were tempered by Donald Trump’s announcement of tariff exemptions for electronics, though the dollar weakened and safe-haven gold hit a fresh record amid fears the relief would be short-lived.
After the wild gyrations witnessed last week, markets got off to a relatively stable start following news Friday that the White House would exempt smartphones, semiconductors, computers and other devices from painful “reciprocal” levies.
The announcement provided a much-needed injection of optimism for investors who had been sent scurrying for the hills in the wake of the US president’s tariff flip-flops and tit-for-tat measures by China.
All three main indexes on Wall Street finished solidly higher, helped by comments from a top Federal Reserve official that the bank was prepared to step in to support financial markets.
And Asia followed suit, with tech firms helping push Hong…
