Asian tech stocks climbed on Monday morning after the announcement of a pause on tariffs on smartphones, computers, and other electronics by the United States.
In Taiwan, shares in Foxconn rose about 4% during the Monday morning trades. Also, Contract laptop maker Quanta showed a stronger jump, up 7%. Inventec, the maker of artificial intelligence servers and other electronics, also rose by 4%. The gains lifted the broad index by around 1%.
China-based Apple suppliers Goertek and Lens Tech also saw increases of 3% and 1.1%, respectively. In South Korea, Samsung Electronics, which supplies Apple and holds the second spot in the United States smartphone market, rose by 2%. Japan’s Nikkei added 1.81%, although it has swung between ups and downs over the last few days due to changing headlines about the tariff situation.
The weekend development saw a temporary easing of the pressure created by tariffs that threatened to drive up the prices of many electronic products. Reports also emerged that Apple had chartered cargo flights last week to move 600 tons of iPhone, which is estimated to be around 1.5 million units, from India to the United States. This effort appeared to be a move to reduce any potential shortages or sudden price spikes if the tariff situation deteriorated.
Asian stock rises as Trump exempts smartphones from tariffs
According to United States President Donald Trump, the smartphones that are exempted from tariffs will be moved to a different tariff bracket. He added that they would be looked into as part of a federal investigation on national security trade involving semiconductors. While the statement was hopeful for some, others did not find it comforting, especially after the president mentioned that a tariff rate on semiconductors will be announced.
He also added that there could be flexibility for some companies, but the market reaction was mixed, reflecting uncertainty over how the final measures would affect things. Amid that uncertainty, certain chipmakers traded against the broader positive trend. TSMC, the largest contract chipmaker worldwide, dipped into negative territory despite an initial jump at the start of the day.
Memory chip supplier SK Hynix in South Korea dropped by 0.2%. Alex Huang, vice president of Mega International Investment Services, noted the early Monday momentum might be premature. He mentioned that the specifics of Trump’s exemption plan were not yet fully disclosed, making it difficult for markets to react to the possible impact. He suggested it would be unlikely for semiconductors to receive a broad exemption from tariffs since any comprehensive relief would remove a critical bargaining chip in discussions with the United States.
TSMC is set to announce its Q1 earnings on Thursday. It could offer more clues about how the tariff environment is affecting chip orders and production plans. In Europe, the euro climbed up to $1.1384, just below the three-year high of $1.1474. Traders were keeping a close watch on the European Central Bank’s meeting slated for Thursday. Market participants see it as a certainty that the ECB will cut rates by a quarter percentage point to 2.25%. In the same vein, the Bank of Canada’s rate decision this week, where there is around a one-in-three chance of a cut from 2.75%.