Asian Markets Soar After Trump's Paris Withdrawal Announcement
Asian markets soared after U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew America from the landmark 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, with Japan's base index, the Nikkei, closing at over 20,000 points for the first time in 18 months.
All Asia's major indexes closed in the green with South Korea's base index, the Kospi, reaching a record high and closing up 1.16 percent. Taiwan's Taiex had its best day since 2000, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.36 percent.
Carmakers led gains in Japan as Mitsubishi Electric rose 5.4 percent and Yamaha Motor 4.8 percent. Nissan shares rose 2.71 percent and Honda 2.63 percent, CNBC reported.
Trump announced Thursday that the U.S. would withdraw from the agreement signed in 2015 by Barack Obama. America joins only Syria and Nicaragua. He said that he would be open to negotiating the deal but only it was fairer to U.S. interests.
In the U.S., Wall Street saw a record close on Thursday, with markets boosted by the release of U.S. private payrolls data for May, which showed private companies added 253,000 jobs throughout the month.
But U.S. manufacturing and energy companies will be concerned that the withdrawal will negatively impact the market for products that can cut greenhouse gas emissions. There are also concerns that businesses who remain in the accord could impose "retaliatory tariffs" on American companies, the FT reported.
Companies including Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Intel took out an advert in U.S. newspapers Thursday warning that a U.S. withdrawal could limit access to markets focused on environmentally friendly technologies.
David MacLennan, chief executive of Minnesota-based Cargill, the world's leading agricultural commodities trader, told the FT: "Signing the accord means being a champion for US economic growth and job creation. If the US exits international accords like the Paris agreement it will negatively impact trade, economic vitality, the state of our environment and relationships among the world community."
Macron rejected any possibility of a renegotiation with Trump: "There are no more negotiations. There is no plan B. There is no planet B."
Chinese domestic markets remained unaffected, closing at 0.09 percent Friday.
