In light trading on Monday, Asian stocks saw notable gains as Japanese markets remained closed for the Culture Day holiday. Despite ongoing tensions in the Middle East and growing caution around the U.S. presidential election and the Federal Reserve’s anticipated interest rate decision, regional markets held their ground, displaying positive momentum.
The U.S. dollar weakened following a jobs report that indicated a cooling labour market. Meanwhile, gold prices edged higher as Iran and Azerbaijan commenced joint naval exercises in the Caspian Sea, while Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a stern warning, promising a strong response from Iran toward perceived provocations by Israel and the U.S. The Wall Street Journal reported that Iran may be preparing a complex attack on Israel, involving advanced missile capabilities.
Oil markets saw an upswing, with both WTI and Brent crude prices rising roughly 2 percent in Asian trading. This came after OPEC+ announced it would delay its December production increase by a month, providing temporary support to oil prices.
China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose by 1.17 percent, reflecting investor optimism ahead of the National People’s Congress meeting, where a new fiscal stimulus package is anticipated. This stimulus aims to stabilise the economy, largely through local government debt swaps and capital injections for banks. Similarly, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index inched up 0.30 percent as investors looked for policy measures to boost consumer spending in Beijing.
In South Korea, stocks surged after a breakthrough in domestic policy. The leader of the opposition Democratic Party pledged support to the government’s decision to scrap a tax on stock investment profits. The Kospi index responded positively, climbing 1.83 percent, with strong gains for tech giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which rose 0.7 percent and 6.5 percent, respectively. LG Energy Solution also gained 3.3 percent.
Australian markets also posted gains ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s upcoming policy review. The S&P/ASX 200 benchmark rose 0.56 percent, and the All Ordinaries index increased by 0.51 percent. Westpac’s shares moved up 0.9 percent following an announcement of a significant boost to its share buyback programme. In contrast, Mineral Resources saw its shares drop 9.6 percent after news broke that its managing director, Chris Ellison, would be stepping down amid allegations of misuse of company resources for personal benefit.
New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX-50 Index also saw a modest increase, gaining 0.25 percent.
In the U.S., major stock indices closed higher on Friday, buoyed by earnings reports from Amazon and Intel. Despite disappointing labour data, with the economy adding only 12,000 jobs in October—the weakest figure since December 2020—investors appeared focused on positive corporate earnings. The unemployment rate remained steady at 4.1 percent, meeting expectations. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.8 percent, while the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 rose 0.7 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.
Fidelity Asian Values Plc (LON:FAS) provides shareholders with a differentiated equity exposure to Asian Markets. Asia is the world’s fastest-growing economic region and the trust looks to capitalise on this by finding good businesses, run by good people and buying them at a good price.
