The Asia-Pacific market rebounded sharply, with South Korean stocks leading a 5% rise and triggering a circuit breaker, Samsung rising 10%, and gold standing above $4,800

# Source: Wall Street Insights

By Zhao ying & Zhang Yaqi

The US-India trade deal has been reached with sharp tariff cuts fueling market sentiment; the MSCI Asia Pacific Index notched its biggest single-day gain in four months. South Korea’s stock market surged nearly 6% with Samsung jumping 10%; gold and silver strongly recouped losses, with silver surging over 8% at one point. US manufacturing data provided a floor for the market, driving a notable rebound in global risk appetite.

Supported by overnight US manufacturing data that underpinned risk appetite, Asian equities rebounded sharply on Tuesday. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 2.2%, posting its largest single-day gain since April. Gold and silver had previously recouped some losses, tech stocks rallied across the board, and the market steadied after the sharp volatility in the previous trading session.

According to CCTV News, the US and India have struck a trade agreement, under which the US will slash its "reciprocal tariff" on India from 25% to 18%. India’s stock market soared 2.2%, and South Korea’s Kospi Index jumped 6%, logging its biggest single-day gain since April 10. Samsung Electronics surged 10%, the biggest driver of the index’s rise, while SK Hynix climbed over 9%. Both chip giants have risen more than 35% so far this year, benefiting from growing market recognition of the surging demand for memory chips needed for AI applications.

Gold jumped as much as 4.2% and silver soared 8.1%, erasing some of the losses from the sudden reversal of their record rallies in the previous two trading sessions. Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 0.5% after AI leader Palantir Technologies issued a stronger-than-expected sales outlook. Gains in European and US markets are expected to extend Asia’s upward momentum.

### Key Market Movements:

- The Nikkei 225 Index surged 4% intraday to 54,769.57. Japan’s TOPIX Index extended intraday gains to 3%.

- South Korea’s KOSPI jumped over 6% to 5,249.22, its biggest gain since April 10 last year. Samsung’s share price extended gains to 10%, the largest increase since March 2020.

- India’s GIFT Nifty index futures rose 2%, extending the 4.1% overnight gain.

- India’s 5-year government bond yield fell 5 basis points to 6.42%.

- The US 10-year Treasury yield was little changed at 4.28%.

- The Australian dollar rose over 1% against the US dollar, boosted by the Reserve Bank of Australia’s hawkish rate hike.

- Gold hit a maximum gain of 4.2%, briefly topping $4,850 an ounce. Silver surged 8.1% at one point to cross the $85 mark.

- West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 0.4% to $61.92 a barrel.

- Bitcoin rose 0.3% to $78,733.68.

### US-India Trade Deal Ignites Indian Markets

According to CCTV News, Donald Trump stated that the two sides have reached a US-India trade agreement, with the US cutting its "reciprocal tariff" on India from 25% to 18%. India will also correspondingly reduce tariffs and non-tariff barriers on the US to zero.

Markets reacted positively to the news. India’s GIFT Nifty index futures rose 2%, extending a 4.1% overnight gain, pointing to a strong open. The rupee extended gains in offshore trading, and analysts expect the increase to reach about 1% when local trading begins.

DBS Bank economists, including Radhika Rao, wrote in a report: "This breakthrough is undoubtedly positive for the real economy. After high tariffs were one of the main factors weighing on market sentiment in the past quarter, domestic markets are expected to see a relief rally at the open."

In a social media post on Monday, Trump said Narendra Modi has agreed to "stop buying Russian oil and buy more oil from the US and possibly even Venezuela". India will "move to bring its tariffs and non-tariff barriers on the US down to zero" and purchase "more than $500 billion worth of US energy, technology, agriculture, coal and many other products".

### Gold and Silver Stage a Strong Rebound

Precious metals rebounded in early morning trading, with gold surging as much as 4.2% to briefly touch $4,850 an ounce and silver jumping 8.1% at one point to break above the $85 level.

Spot palladium rose 3% to $1,767.25 an ounce, and spot platinum climbed 3% to $2,187.35 an ounce.

Darrell Cronk of Wells Fargo said: "Commodity price movements are more about a purge of weak or leveraged positions than a change in the fundamental story. This is a market where vulnerability and extremes need to be watched."

### South Korean Stocks Rebound Strongly, Led by Chip Stocks

South Korea’s stock market rebounded from the previous day’s sharp drop on Tuesday, with tech giants regaining strong upward momentum. The KOSPI jumped 5.12%, its biggest gain since April 10 last year. The Korea Exchange activated the circuit breaker mechanism for the KOSPI Index after Kospi 200 index futures rose 5%, suspending program trading for 5 minutes.

Samsung and SK Hynix were the biggest drivers, with both chipmakers rising more than 6%. The rebound was supported by a stabilization in global markets and fading fears over AI spending.

### Nikkei 225 Jumps 3%, Tech and Bank Earnings Boost Risk Appetite

Japanese stocks surged on Tuesday, with the Nikkei 225 Index rising as much as 3.1% intraday and the TOPIX climbing 2.5%, its largest intraday gain since January 13. The rebound was driven by strong earnings from bank and tech stocks, alongside a pick-up in risk appetite.

Tech and bank stocks contributed the most to the index’s gains. Mizuho Financial Group surged as much as 5.6% intraday after the company reported quarterly profits that beat market expectations and announced an additional share buyback. Tech firms such as TDK also posted strong results, and AI-related stocks were lifted by overnight gains in Intel and Texas Instruments.

Expectations of a likely landslide victory for the ruling party in Japan’s House of Representatives election on February 8 also supported the market. A chief strategist at Nomura Asset Management said major indices had reached attractive valuation levels the previous day, setting the stage for a technical rebound.

### Bitcoin Languishes at Lows

Bitcoin remained under pressure on Tuesday, stalling after a brief rebound from a 10-month low as options activity signaled traders remained cautious.

The original cryptocurrency hovered around $78,500 in midday Singapore trading, after bearish sentiment the previous day nearly pushed it to its lowest level since President Trump returned to the White House more than a year ago.

Put options – contracts that hedge against downside risk – have eased, but a concentration of strike prices shows the market has not shaken off nervousness. According to Deribit data, the highest concentration of put options indicates buyer support at $75,000, making it a key support level. The token rebounded after hitting a low of $74,541 on Monday, with the next key support level at $70,000.

Sean McNulty, Head of Asia Pacific Derivatives Trading at FalconX, said: "The Bitcoin options market is showing signs of stabilization as extreme downside panic starts to mean-revert. But a weekly close below $75,000 would invalidate the current rebound and potentially open a vacuum toward the $69,000-$70,000 zone."

Bitcoin rose as much as 0.83% in early Asian trading on Tuesday, breaking above $79,100, but then gave up those gains. The cryptocurrency’s implied volatility index held at a high of around 48.8, similar to Monday’s level, according to charting platform TradingView.

*Updates to follow*

### Risk Notice and Disclaimer

The market is risky, and investment requires prudence. This article does not constitute personal investment advice, nor does it take into account the specific investment objectives, financial conditions or needs of individual users. Users should consider whether any opinions, views or conclusions in this article are in line with their specific circumstances. Any investment made based on this article shall be at the investor’s own risk.

### 翻译说明

1. **市场核心术语**：采用国际金融通用译法，如**对等关税**reciprocal tariff、**风险偏好**risk appetite、**侧车机制**circuit breaker mechanism、**看跌期权**put option、**行权价格**strike price、**隐含波动率**implied volatility、**技术性反弹**technical rebound等，贴合海外交易市场表述习惯；

2. **指数与标的**：保留主流指数英文标识（MSCI Asia Pacific Index、Nikkei 225、Kospi、TOPIX），**离岸市场**offshore trading、**现货钯金/铂金**spot palladium/platinum为大宗商品标准译法；

3. **市场动作表述**：**收复失地**recoup losses、**跳涨/飙升**jump/surge/soar、**抹去损失**erase losses、**放弃涨幅**give up gains、**承压