Most Asian markets gain even as Trump pulls out of Trans-Pacific Partnership

Most Asian stock market indices were trading higher on Tuesday (24 January), with the Shanghai Composite up 0.10% at 3,139.80 as of 4am GMT, despite Donald Trump pulling out of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

On Monday, the 45<sup>th president of the US, signed an executive order to withdraw the US from the TPP, a trade agreement the world's biggest economy had with 11 Pacific Rim countries. The move was not a surprise as it was one of the promises made by Trump during his campaign.

Trump said he would instead consider one-on-one trade deals with various Asian countries in order to give a boost to US manufacturing.

Apart from this, Trump, on his first full-day at office, pledged to lower corporate taxes to 15% to 20%, from the current 35% slab. He also promised to reduce regulations by up to 75% if companies retained jobs in the US.

While Trump's TPP move had a negative effect on only a few Asian stock markets, analysts opined that investors were nervous about the long run. "Investors are nervous due to Trump's protectionism policies and their hope is that his tax cut policies could perhaps save the day for them," Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at ThinkMarkets, was quoted as saying by CNBC.

Indices in the region were trading as follows at 4.25am GMT:

On 23 January, the FTSE 100 Index closed 0.66% lower at 7,151.18, while the S&P 500 index closed 0.27% lower at 2,265.20.

Among commodities, oil prices which fell on Monday were back in the green. As of 4.33am GMT, WTI crude 0il was trading 0.47% higher at $53 (£42.37) a barrel, while Brent crude was trading 0.49% higher at $55.50 a barrel.