Asian Equities Mixed as Investors Eye Trump-Xi Summit

By Amanda Lee

Asian equities had another volatile start Thursday as President Trump met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, kicking off a summit during which they are expected to discuss the war in Iran and trade issues.

Markets have been skittish heading into the highly anticipated meeting, as investors parse earnings results and the latest developments in the Middle East.

Trump and Xi gather against a complex backdrop: The U.S. has blockaded Iranian oil shipments bound for China, and Washington is expected to seek Beijing's help to end the conflict.

Reopening the Strait of Hormuz--a critical energy shipping route--will be a key sticking point, said Ritesh Ganeriwal, group head of investments & advisory at digital investment platform Syfe.

Likely deals could bring about tariff relief, easing export curbs on chip and rare earths, he said. "While a full agreement is unlikely, these results could help ease long-lasting tensions," Ganeriwal said.

Market hopes for U.S.-China business deals already boosted sentiment the previous session after Trump said he was attending the summit with a cohort of executives including Nvidia's Jensen Huang and Tesla's Elon Musk.

The news fueled speculation that the U.S. could relax curbs on Nvidia chip sales to China, OCBC analysts said in a note.

"This development reinforced the AI-led rally, helping tech stocks power ahead despite increasingly challenging macro conditions," OCBC said.

Shares of Nvidia rallied overnight, helping buoy Asia semiconductor stocks Thursday morning. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. was last up 1.1%, Samsung Electronics was 3.5% higher and Tokyo Electron added 1.9%.

However, the exuberance around the Trump-Xi summit may soon fade, said Mizuho Securities' Vishnu Varathan.

To be sure, there will be some "show and tell" deals, but given strategic geoeconomic impediments, he expects the talks to ultimately be limited in scope in terms of generating U.S.-China synergies with tangible commercial benefits.

South Korea's Kospi was flat after opening higher, while Japan's Nikkei Stock Average was up by 0.3%.

Indexes in China and Hong Kong quickly pared gains after strong opens. The Shanghai Composite tipped into negative territory, last down 0.8%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 0.6% after starting 1.7% higher.

Asian currencies mostly consolidated against the greenback, with the won up 0.2% and yen 0.1% higher.

Oil prices stayed above the $100-a-barrel mark amid a continued lack of concrete progress toward a U.S.-Iran peace deal. Front-month WTI and Brent futures were up 0.4% each at $101.42 and $106.05 a barrel, respectively.

Spot gold was little changed at $4,687.976 a troy ounce, while Bitcoin slipped below $80,000 to sit 0.3% lower at $79,395.71.

Write to Amanda Lee at amanda.lee@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 13, 2026 23:36 ET (03:36 GMT)