South Korean & China Stocks Higher In Holiday Impacted Markets

For those markets which are open in the region today, the tone has generally been positive. South Korean stocks have led the way, with the Kospi up around 1.30% at this stage. The main driver has been higher Samsung shares. The company delivered a weaker profit result, but cutting memory chip production has buoyed sentiment.

• China shares are also higher, up ~0.60% for the CSI 300. IIF reported yesterday that China shares received $7.2bn in inflows for March, a pick up from the February pace.
• US-China headlines have crossed, with China sanctioning the Reagan Library and the Hudson Institute think tank (places where Taiwan President Tsai met with various US officials). Overall though, China's response has so far been modest in response to Tsai's trip/meetings in the US.
• US lawmaker McCaul also stated the US wants to move forward with a free trade agreement with Taiwan.
• The Taiex is modestly higher, +0.15%, while Japan's Topix is up by a similar amount.
• Elsewhere, Malaysian stocks are flat, but the Thai index is around 0.4% firmer.
• US equity futures opened lower, and have stayed in the red, albeit away from session lows. We were last close to 4129, Thursday session highs were just above 4135.