Asia-Pacific markets rose Thursday, breaking ranks with Wall Street which declined sharply after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell cautioned that ongoing trade tensions could challenge the central bank's goals of controlling inflation and spurring growth.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index increased 1.61% to end the day at 21,395.14 while Mainland China's CSI 300 closed flat at 3,772.22.
Indian stocks reversed course from losses in early trade. The benchmark Nifty 50 advanced 1.61% while the broader BSE Sensex surged 1.63% as at 2.15 p.m. Indian Standard Time.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 1.35% to end the day at 34,377.60, while the broader Topix index added 1.29% to 2,530.23.
In South Korea, the Kospi index increased 0.94% to close at 2,470.41while the small-cap Kosdaq climbed 1.81% to 711.75, after the central bank held interest rates at 2.75%, as expected by economists polled by Reuters.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 ended the day up 0.78% at 7,819.10.
The uncertainty in global trade has pushed Thomas Poullaouec, head of multi-asset Solutions APAC at T. Rowe Price, to look for opportunities outside the U.S.
"We see better opportunities outside of the U.S. (such as Europe, China and Asia-excluding Japan) on improving sentiment supported by increased fiscal spending as well as dovish central banks," he wrote in a Thursday note.
Meanwhile, Poullaouec is betting on "spread sectors including global high yield and Asia credit bonds on attractive all-in yields."
"Fundamentals remain supportive, although spreads are vulnerable to impacts of trade uncertainty," he explained.
Pollaouec is also overweight on cash and says the asset "provides attractive yields and liquidity," to take advantage of market opportunities.
U.S. futures rose even as investors weighed the impact of a trade war on the country's economic growth.
Overnight stateside, stocks fell sharply after Powell warned that the trade tensions could impact the Fed's inflation and employment goals. The sell-off in Wall Street was also triggered by a 6.9% plunge in the artificial intelligence darling Nvidia's shares.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 699.57 points, or 1.73%, closing at 39,669.39. The S&P 500 dropped 2.24% to end at 5,275.70, led down by the information technology sector. The Nasdaq Composite pulled back 3.07% to close at 16,307.16. The tech-heavy index ended the day about 19% off its closing high, sliding closer to bear market territory.
— CNBC's Pia Singh, Alex Harring and Lisa Kailan Han contributed to this report.
