Asian stocks rose slightly on Thursday, riding on optimism from Nvidia's brief rise to a world-record US$4 trillion valuation while investors largely shrugged off US President Donald Trump's latest tariff salvos.

In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index lost 26 points, or 0.11 percent, to open at 23,865.

Up north, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.04 percent to open at 3,491 while the Shenzhen Component Index opened 0.11 percent higher at 10,593.

The ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, was up 0.38 percent to open at 2,192.

Further afield, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index opened at 3,144, up 10 points or 0.33 percent.

In Tokyo, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average opened at 39,795, down 25 points or 0.06 percent.

Trump turned his trade ire against Brazil on Wednesday as he threatened a punitive 50 percent tariff on exports to the United States and issued tariff notices to seven minor trading partners.

The latest moves did little to rattle markets, leaving MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan up 0.2 percent.

Market reaction to Trump's tariff developments this week has been much less severe than the post "Liberation Day" sell-off in April, with Jeff Ng, SMBC's head of Asia macro strategy, saying investors have grown somewhat "numb" to the ever-changing situation.

"They know that there is still room for negotiation. A lot of these announcements, they start off with eye-catching numbers, but they are not totally final, and they are still subject to changes," he said.

"Even if they are implemented, they could also be reversed in the coming few months to year."

Also keeping stocks supported were expectations of US Federal Reserve rate cuts later this year.

Minutes released on Wednesday showed "most participants" at the Fed's meeting last month anticipated rate cuts would be appropriate this year, with any price shock from tariffs expected to be "temporary or modest". (Reuters/Xinhua)