Sawt Falasteen - Asian markets rise on Trump auto tariff reprieve

The White House announced Wednesday an exemption on any autos coming through the North American neighbours' free trade pact, after Trump held talks with the "Big Three" US automakers -- Stellantis, Ford and General Motors.

US automakers have been among the most exposed to Trump's trade policy, which saw 25 percent blanket tariffs imposed on Mexico and Canada earlier this week -- with a lower rate for Canadian energy.

Wednesday's tariff delay buoyed global markets and lifted the auto sector, with stocks in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul also climbing Thursday morning.

"We have little details on what products the pause will cover -- whether this will only apply to finished cars or also automotive parts -- but given the exceptional degree of integration across North America for this industrial value chain, the decision is hardly surprising," said Maeva Cousin of Bloomberg Economics.

The prospects of wider relief were dampened, however, after Trump said he was unconvinced Canada had done enough to address Washington's concerns over cross-border fentanyl smuggling.

Canada contributes less than one percent of fentanyl to the United States' illicit supply, according to Canadian and US government data.

In Asia, Chinese stocks were also responding well to Beijing announcing its 2025 growth target of around five percent, at the start of its annual meeting of the National People's Congress (NPC) on Wednesday.

Hong Kong jumped as much as 2.6 percent Thursday morning and Shanghai climbed above 0.5 percent.

China has vowed to make domestic demand its main economic driver despite facing persistent economic headwinds.

It also announced a rare hike in fiscal funding, allowing its budget deficit to reach four percent this year.

Investors are hoping a huge fiscal stimulus package will follow, which could be announced at a key NPC economic policy meeting later Thursday.

"The commitment to five percent means one thing: more stimulus is coming," said Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management.

"China isn't leaving anything to chance -- expect a mix of credit easing, fiscal firepower, and the occasional 'suggestion' to state banks to keep the machine humming."

Jakarta and Manila were up while Singapore rose more modestly, and Sydney was down.

- Key figures around 0230 GMT -

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.9 percent at 37,773.68

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 2.4 percent at 24,151.56

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.8 percent at 3,314.84

Euro/dollar: UP at 1.0813 from 1.0790 on Wednesday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2902 from $1.2896

Dollar/yen: UP 148.96 from 148.89 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 83.80 pence from 83.67 pence

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.7 percent at $66.77 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.7 percent at $69.76 per barrel

New York - Dow: UP 1.1 percent at 43,006.59 (close)

London - FTSE 100: DOWN less than 0.1 percent at 8,755.84 (close)

M.AlAhmad--SF-PST