[MARKET ANALYSIS] APAC equities follow the gains seen stateside, aided by the rebound in the tech sector

• Asia-Pac stocks trade entirely in the green, following the rebound seen stateside as President Trump withdraws the imposition of additional tariffs on EU countries.
• ASX 200 started the session with gains of 0.8%, following the gains seen stateside as US President Trump removed the tariffs on EU countries over Greenland. The index saw a dip following the hot Aussie jobs report.
• Nikkei 225 trades with comfortable gains of nearly 2%, snapping its 5-day losing streak, aided by gains in chips and financials as JGBs stabilise.
• KOSPI opened to a new ATH above 5,000, led by chip names like Samsung SDI (+14%) as NVIDIA’s CEO Huang brushed off long-term concerns, stating that skilled vocational workers are seeing increasing demand due to the need to build data centres.
• Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp. follow their global peers, helped by the rebound in the global tech sector as worries over trade tensions ease.
• US equity futures continue to rebound following Wednesday's gains (ES +0.3%, NQ +0.5%).
• European equity futures are indicative of a strong open with the Euro Stoxx 50 future +1.3% after cash closed -0.4 on Wednesday.

The rebound in APAC equities is largely influenced by the easing of trade tensions following President Trump's decision to withdraw additional tariffs on the EU. This geopolitical development has bolstered investor sentiment, particularly in the tech sector, leading to strong performances across various indices, including the Nikkei and KOSPI. As concerns over trade decrease, we may see further positive momentum in both equity markets and related sectors.