Stocks set to mostly rise

Asia-Pacific markets were to set to mostly rise 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.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 was set to open nearly 11% higher, with the futures contract in Chicago at 35,215 while its counterpart in Osaka last traded at 35,040, against the index’s Wednesday close of 31,714.03.

Investors will be keeping a close watch on Chinese stocks, as U.S. raised duties on imports from the Mainland to 125% after Beijing announced plans to retaliate with an 84% levy on American goods.

Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 20,180 pointing to a slightly weaker open compared to the HSI’s Wednesday close of 20,264.49.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 futures point to a 7% surge in the index at the open to 7,895, compared to its last close of 7,375. This would make its biggest gain since March 2020. 

U.S. futures rose after 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 mars 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.