The future for the S&P 500 was up 1.6% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.2%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index jumped 1.5% to 38,263.36. American’s largest ally in Asia has been appealing to Trump to cancel the tariffs he has ordered on imports from Japan and to also stop 25% tariffs on steel, aluminum and autos.
The ruling also pushed the dollar sharply higher against the Japanese yen. It was trading at 146.06 yen early Thursday, up from 144.87 yen late Wednesday.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.3% to 8,418.90.
In South Korea, which like Japan relies heavily on exports to the U.S., the Kospi surged 1.4% to 2,707.77. Shares also were helped by the Bank of Korea’s decision to cut its key interest rate to 2.5% from 2.75%, to ease pressure on the economy.
On Wednesday, U.S. stocks cooled, with the S&P 500 down 0.6% at 5,888.55. It’s still within 4.2% of its record after charging higher amid hopes that the worst of the turmoil caused by Trump’s trade war may have passed. It had been roughly 20% below the mark last month.
The Dow industrials lost 0.6% to 42,098.70, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.5% to 19,100.94.
Trading was relatively quiet in the countdown to Wednesday’s main event for financial markets, the latest quarterly earnings release for Nvidia. That came after trading ended for the day. Before that, the AI darling’s stock slipped 0.5%. It jumped 4.9% in after-hours trading.
Like Nvidia, Macy’s stock also swung up and down through much of the day, even though it reported milder drops in revenue and profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Its stock ended the day down 0.3%.
Several other retailers likewise delivered better-than-expected results for the latest quarter. Abercrombie & Fitch soared 14.7% after its profit and revenue topped analysts’ expectations. CEO Fran Horowitz credited broad-based growth across its business around the world, and strength for its Hollister brand offset weakness for its Abercrombie brand.