Investing.com – Asian stocks recouped some losses through the morning session Tuesday with several trading in positive territory by early afternoon, although gains were subdued.
After solid gains on Monday, most bourses across Asia opened the day in the red. Overnight Monday, shares plunged in U.S. markets, giving up early gains and closing in the red, after concerns arose about the lack of details around any potential trade deal between the U.S. and China and how it would affect global growth.
Asian shares followed U.S. shares down in the morning session but recouped some losses. Chinese shares in particular made some gains.
The Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.24% by 1:13 AM ET (6:13 AM GMT) while the Shenzhen Component build on morning gains and was up 1.15% early into the afternoon session. Chinese shares have enjoyed significant gains this year. The Shanghai Composite is up around 18% from the beginning of 2019 and Shenzhen is up about 25%.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index recouped some morning losses and moved between mild gains and mild losses. It was down just 0.04% by 1:15 AM ET (6:16 AM GMT).
Most other major stock markets around the region remained in the red in the afternoon.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.53% to 21,705 and the Kospi in Korea was trading down 0.70% to 2,175. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.29% to 6,199.
The gains in China followed comments in the morning at the opening of the annual meeting of the National People’s Congress. In his work report, Premier Li Keqiang announced a target for economic growth to between 6% and 6.5% for 2019.
Regulators also announced cuts to the value added tax (VAT), including a 3% to the top bracket, in a move that could help support manufacturing. The tax could add up to as much as CNY800 billion, according to figures from Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) quoted by Bloomberg.