On Tuesday, Asian markets saw a notable advancement, with Japan's benchmark index nearing the psychologically significant 50,000 mark for the first time as conservative lawmaker Sanae Takaichi prepared to become the nation's first female prime minister. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo rose by 0.8%, reaching 49,595.72, as Japanese lawmakers orchestrated Takaichi's election.
Takaichi is anticipated to endorse market-friendly measures, including maintaining low interest rates and increasing government spending. However, her coalition government holds a slim majority in parliament, making the implementation of such policies uncertain. In the foreign exchange market, the U.S. dollar appreciated against the yen, climbing to 151.05 yen from 150.75 yen. Analysts suggest that if Takaichi succeeds in moderating interest rate hikes by the Bank of Japan, the yen could remain weak against the dollar, complicating the bank's inflation control efforts, currently above its 2% target.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index saw a substantial increase of 1.7%, closing at 26,286.47, while the Shanghai Composite index gained 1.2%, ending the session at 3,910.13. Investor optimism was fueled by the anticipation of a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month at a regional summit, raising hopes for reduced trade tensions between the two largest economies in the world.
Meanwhile, in South Korea, the Kospi index added 0.5%, bringing it to 3,833.43, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose by 0.8%, reaching 9,099.30. Taiwan's Taiex also experienced a modest increase of 0.3%. On Wall Street, U.S. stocks surged on Monday, nearing their record highs. The S&P 500 climbed 1.1%, reaching 6,735.13, and closing in on its all-time high set earlier this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average similarly advanced by 1.1% to 46,706.58, while the Nasdaq composite rose 1.4% to 22,990.54.
Apple Inc. led the surge, with its stock climbing 3.9% to a record high, driven by strong demand for its latest iPhone model. Cleveland-Cliffs saw a significant increase of 21.5% following comments from its CEO, Lourenco Goncalves, regarding a potential deal with a major global steel manufacturer, as well as findings suggesting possible rare earth materials in Michigan and Minnesota. Rare earths have gained considerable attention after China imposed export restrictions, an action that President Trump labeled as hostile. Although Trump's threat of increased tariffs caused fluctuations in Wall Street, concerns slightly alleviated when he described such high tariffs on Chinese imports as unsustainable.
Despite a significant outage affecting Amazon's cloud computing service for internet users globally, the company's stock remained resilient, rising 1.6%. This week marks an important period for corporate earnings reports, with Coca-Cola scheduled to release its results on Tuesday, followed by Tesla on Wednesday, and Procter & Gamble on Friday. Following a robust rally of 35% for the S&P 500 since April, there is increasing pressure on companies to demonstrate profitable growth.
The significance of corporate earnings reports has intensified due to their potential insights into the U.S. economy's strength amidst the ongoing government shutdown, which has delayed the release of crucial economic data. This uncertainty presents challenges for the Federal Reserve as it must evaluate whether high inflation or a weakening job market poses a greater risk to the economy. Fed officials have signaled可能的降息措施以支持经济的增长，尽管过低的利率可能进一步推高通货膨胀。
On Friday, the U.S. government is expected to release inflation data for September, which was delayed due to the shutdown. The Social Security Administration requires this information to calculate cost-of-living adjustments for beneficiaries. However, government authorities made it clear that “No other releases will be rescheduled or produced until the resumption of regular government services.”
In early trading on Tuesday, U.S. benchmark crude oil prices decreased by 12 cents, settling at $56.90 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell by 13 cents to $60.88 per barrel. The euro edged lower to $1.1635 from $1.1641.
