Asian Markets Rise, Japanese Stocks Hit New Record
Asia-Pacific markets opened mostly higher on Friday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 rising more than 1% to a new record, as investors reacted positively to the truce between Washington and Beijing following a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The two leaders reached a trade deal in their high-stakes meeting in South Korea on Thursday, easing tensions over rare earth elements that had threatened to escalate into a full-blown trade war.
“Both sides appear to be preserving leverage for future negotiations by using these measures as bargaining chips,” said Chaoping Zhu, global market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management. Meanwhile, Japan's Topix index also hit a new high, rising 0.79%. However, South Korea's Kospi fell 0.19% after hitting a new record high the day before, while the small-cap Kosdaq rose 0.47%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index opened up 0.45%, but Hong Kong's Hang Seng index is expected to weaken, with HSI futures trading lower at 26,256, down from their previous close. In corporate news, Panasonic Holdings shares plunged more than 8% after the company revised its full-year operating profit forecast down 13.5% due to a decline in profit from its main energy unit, which supplies batteries to Tesla and other automakers.
Investors are also awaiting China's purchasing managers' index (PMI) for October, which will provide insight into factory and services activity. Meanwhile, US markets closed lower overnight, with the S&P 500 down 0.99%, the Nasdaq down 1.57%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.23%. (asd)
Source: Newsmaker.id
