Asia markets live: Stocks rise

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 rose 8.24%, while the broader Topix index advanced 7.33%.

South Korea’s Kospi index surged 4.8%, while the small-cap Kosdaq gained 4.2%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 5.09% in early trade.

Investors will be keeping a close watch on Chinese stocks, as the 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.

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 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.