EMERGING MARKETS-EM equities hit record highs as Trump softens tariff, Greenland rhetoric

By Nichiket Sunil

Jan 22 (Reuters) - Emerging Asian stocks raced towards record highs on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump softened his stance on EU tariff threats and ruled out seizing Greenland from an ally by force, reviving appetite for riskier assets.

The MSCI gauge of Asian emerging stocks .MIMS00000PUS surged 1%, with equities in South Korea .KS11 and Taiwan .TWII rising to all-time highs. A broader index of equities in Asia outside of Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS touched a record high.

Stocks across Southeast Asia advanced: Singapore .STI and Indonesia .JKSE resumed their move towards lifetime highs scaled earlier this month.

Malaysia's benchmark gauge .KLSE traded a few points shy of a seven-year high, while Thailand's main index .SETI advanced for a seventh consecutive session to touch a nearly three-month peak. Stocks in the Philippines .PSI jumped more than 1%.

In Davos, Trump pulled back on tariff threats against European Union members and ruled out using force to acquire Greenland, easing investor concerns globally.

"It's a tentative uplift in Asia's risk sentiment following President Trump's walk-back on Greenland tariff threats, which helped global equities rally and eased immediate geopolitical risk," said Glenn Yin, director of research at ACCM.

"The rebound is strongest in pockets which were earlier in good momentum, notably in semiconductor markets such as South Korea and Taiwan," said Rajat Agarwal, Asia equity strategist at Societe Generale.

South Korea's KOSPI .KS11 climbed as much as 2.2%, topping the key 5,000 level for the first time, lifted by chipmakers Samsung Electronics 005930.KS and SK Hynix 000660.KS, which advanced up to 5% each.

"In addition to the developments on the greenback, the renewed confidence on global AI spending and demand from industry leaders is certainly helping these markets," Agarwal said.

Taiwan stocks .TWII surged 2% to an all-time high of 31,890 points, notching their 11th record in 15 sessions.

Among currencies, the Indonesian rupiah IDR= rebounded up to 16,795 per dollar, a day after the central bank held rates as expected and also assured it would focus on stabilizing the rupiah, which at the time was lingering not far from its record low of 16,985.

The Malaysian ringgit MYR= traded steady ahead of the central bank's meeting later in the day. Bank Negara Malaysia is expected to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2.75%, according to a Reuters poll.

The Thai baht THB=TH slid 0.6% to 31.380 per dollar, as bullion slipped from record-high levels. GOL/

The South Korean won KRW=KFTC slid from a one-week high. Data showed the economy unexpectedly shrank in the final quarter of 2025, though the global AI boom is set to improve its outlook, allowing the central bank to keep its rates steady.

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