Asian Markets Cautionfully Strengthen Amid Wall Street Recovery
Asian stock markets edged higher on Tuesday morning, following gains on Wall Street after US President Donald Trump softened his stance on trade tensions with China. The MSCI Asia-Pacific ex-Japan index rose 0.5%, while S&P 500 futures rose 0.3% as Trump's meeting with President Xi Jinping in South Korea is expected in late October. This recovery follows a major sell-off last Friday following the threat of 100% tariffs on Chinese goods.
Citi Research believes trade tensions will not escalate as the US is likely to adopt a more flexible stance toward China. Among Asian markets, the Taiwanese index led the way with a 2.2% gain, followed by South Korea's Kospi, which rose 1% after Samsung reported a 32% surge in operating profit in the third quarter. Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei fell 1.2% after a national holiday, and the Australian index edged down 0.1%.
From a monetary policy perspective, market participants remain confident that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by 25 basis points later this month. The euro held steady at $1.1566 after French President Emmanuel Macron rejected calls from his political opponents to step down. In commodity markets, Brent oil prices rose 0.4% to $63.56 per barrel, while gold continued to hit a new record at $4,138 per ounce.
Crypto assets were under pressure, with Bitcoin falling 0.9% to $114,789 and Ether weakening 1.5% to $4,223. Although global uncertainty remains, investors appear to be returning to riskier assets in hopes that US-China trade negotiations will continue without further escalation.
5 Key Points:
Asian markets edged higher following Wall Street's rebound.
Trump and Xi are scheduled to meet in South Korea at the end of October.
Citi believes the US is more flexible in trade negotiations with China.
The Fed is expected to cut interest rates by 25 basis points this month.
Gold sets a new record, Bitcoin weakens below $115,000. (asd)
Source: Newsmaker.id
