The anticipation of a significant diplomatic encounter has injected positivity into Asian markets. Following the White House’s announcement of President Donald Trump’s upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, stock markets across Asia experienced a notable uplift on Friday. This meeting aims to address the ongoing trade tensions that have been a source of global economic uncertainty. However, whether this will result in a substantial trade agreement remains to be seen.
In China, investors welcomed the conclusion of a major planning session by the ruling Communist Party, which ended without any unexpected policy shifts. This stability contributed to gains in the Chinese stock markets, with the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong rising by 0.6% to reach 26,122.10 and the Shanghai Composite index climbing 0.4% to 3,938.98.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 also saw a recovery, surging nearly 1.5% to close at 49,380.25 after suffering losses the previous day. The boost in tech shares, spurred by the news of Trump and Xi’s impending meeting, played a significant role in this resurgence. Investors appeared optimistic that the dialogue might ease some of the tension that has been weighing on global markets.
Furthermore, Japan’s economic landscape presented mixed signals. The country’s core inflation rate edged up to 2.9% in September from 2.7% in August, suggesting rising price pressures. Despite this, the Bank of Japan is expected to maintain its current interest rates in the upcoming policy meeting, aligning with the stance of newly elected Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who has indicated a preference for keeping rates low to support economic growth.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rebounded Friday from the previous day’s losses, adding nearly 1.5% to 49,380.25. Tech shares were among gainers as sentiment was boosted by the White House confirmation of Trump’s meeting with Xi.
Data released Friday showed Japan’s core inflation rate rose to 2.9% in September from 2.7% in August. Despite price pressures, the Bank of Japan is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged at a meeting next week: newly elected Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has expressed a preference to keep rates low.
In Seoul, the Kospi surged 2.3% to 3,935.75, a fresh record, as gains on Wall Street and news of the Trump-Xi summit lifted investor sentiment and eased trade worries.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped less than 0.1% to 9,027.00 after preliminary data showed Australia’s factory activity contracted to 49.7 in October from 51.4 in September.
India’s BSE Sensex was nearly unchanged, while Taiwan’s stock market was closed for a holiday.
U.S. stocks rose to the cusp of their records on Thursday, as oil prices jumped after President Donald Trump announced “massive” new sanctions on Russia’s crude industry.
On Wall Street on Thursday, the S&P 500 climbed 0.6% to 6,738.44, within 0.2% of its all-time high set earlier this month.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.3% to 46,734.61, just below its own record set earlier this week. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.9% to 22,941.80.
Companies in the oil and gas business led the way, including gains of 1.1% for Exxon Mobil, 3.1% for ConocoPhillips and 3.4% for Diamondback Energy. They rose with prices for crude, which leaped roughly 5.5% after Trump announced the sanctions against Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil.
The hope is to convince Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, to end the brutal war with Ukraine, and sanctions could constrict the global flow of oil.
The jumps helped oil prices recover some of their sharp recent losses, taken because of expectations for supplies of crude in inventories to remain plentiful. Oil prices are still down more than 10% for the year so far, and early Friday, they slipped further. U.S. benchmark crude lost 22 cents to $61.57 per barrel, while Brent crude was down 21 cents at $65.78.
Strong profit reports from several big U.S. companies helped push benchmarks higher.
Chemicals maker Dow jumped 12.9%, and Las Vegas Sands rallied 12.4% after both delivered stronger earnings than analysts expected. Tesla shook off an early loss to climb 2.3% after reporting a weaker profit but stronger revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected.
The pressure is on companies broadly to deliver solid growth in profits. That would counter criticism that their stock prices shot too high following a 35% romp for the S&P 500 from a low in April.
In other dealings early Friday, the price of gold slipped 0.4% to $4,129.30 an ounce. On Thursday it had climbed 2% to $4,145.60 per ounce.
The U.S. dollar rose to 152.96 Japanese yen from 152.60. The euro slid to $1.1608 from $1.1618.
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AP Business Writers Stan Choe and Matt Ott contributed.
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