Kospi Jumps 1.7% to 7,007.72 on US-China Trade Hopes

For markets, the signal from Sunday's New York meeting is that the US and China are de-escalating rather than drifting toward a new trade shock. With the Kospi up 1.7% to 7,007.72 and US futures higher, traders are repricing tariff-risk premium ahead of the Trump-Xi summit. The $30 billion reciprocal tariff discussion is small relative to total trade, but it is the first concrete sign of rollback rather than escalation.

Global risk appetite firmed at the start of the new trading week after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent characterized Sunday's New York talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng as "a very successful engagement," a signal that the United States and China may be moving toward concrete trade de-escalation ahead of the expected Trump-Xi summit in Washington. The read-through was immediate: Asian equities climbed, U.S. futures moved higher, and the market's tariff-risk premium began to compress. China's Foreign Ministry added formal confirmation on Monday that Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to the United States from September 23 to 25, turning a previously anticipated meeting into a dated diplomatic event.

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South Korea's Kospi rose 1.7% to 7,007.72, with Samsung Electronics jumping 5% and SK Hynix adding 0.6%.

The market response was broad and concentrated in trade-sensitive and AI-linked names. South Korea's Kospi rose 1.7% to 7,007.72, with Samsung Electronics jumping 5% and SK Hynix adding 0.6%. Taiwan's Taiex gained 1.1%, with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., or TSMC, up 0.8%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 0.9% to 24,975.58, while the Shanghai Composite added 1% to 3,949.91. Japan's Nikkei 225 was closed through Wednesday for holidays, so it did not participate in Monday's session. Wall Street's S&P 500 had already ended Friday up 0.2%, and U.S. index futures were higher early Monday. The tone is notable because it reflects not just a hope for headline diplomacy but also a specific, if modest, trade deliverable: U.S. and Chinese officials have been discussing reciprocal tariff reductions on $30 billion worth of goods from each side. That is not a sweeping rollback of the tariff architecture, but it is a tangible enough step to support cyclical and export-oriented equity exposures.

The AI angle is particularly important for market leadership. Asia's semiconductor complex outperformed, supported by the same AI demand narrative that has driven global tech valuations, even as some American technology leaders have called for a slowdown in AI development on safety grounds. Bessent said Sunday's talks touched on trade and AI, which suggests that AI safety and the rules governing chip flows could be part of the summit agenda. The administration's posture toward AI safety, export controls, and China's access to advanced semiconductors will be closely watched by investors in both U.S. and Asian markets. For Seoul and Taipei, any signal that the two powers are coordinating rather than competing on AI governance might reduce the tail risk of sharp export-control escalation.