Asian markets experienced a notable uptick on Tuesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 index nearing the symbolic 50,000 mark for the first time. This surge coincided with the historic appointment of Sanae Takaichi as Japan’s first female prime minister, following a parliamentary vote. Takaichi, known for her conservative stance, is anticipated to advocate for market-friendly policies, including sustained low interest rates and increased government expenditure. The U.S. dollar strengthened against the Japanese yen, rising to 151.31 yen from 150.75 yen, as Takaichi’s potential influence on the Bank of Japan’s interest rate decisions could maintain the yen’s relative weakness, complicating inflation control efforts. Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite indices rose by 1.2% and 1.3%, respectively, reflecting broader regional optimism. In South Korea, the Kospi edged up 0.2%, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.7%. Taiwan’s Taiex also saw a modest 0.2% increase. The positive sentiment was further bolstered by expectations of a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at an upcoming regional summit, which could ease trade tensions between the two economic giants. In the U.S., stocks rallied on Monday, with the S&P 500 nearing its all-time high, driven by strong performances from companies like Apple and Cleveland-Cliffs. Apple’s stock surged 3.9% amid optimism over its latest iPhone design, while Cleveland-Cliffs jumped 21.5% following CEO Lourenco Goncalves’ announcement of potential rare earth discoveries and a major global steel deal. Despite a widespread outage of Amazon’s cloud computing service, its stock rose 1.6%. Corporate earnings reports this week, including those from Coca-Cola, Tesla, and Procter & Gamble, are under scrutiny as investors assess whether profitability can sustain the S&P 500’s 35% rally since April. The Federal Reserve faces challenges in balancing inflation concerns with a slowing job market, with potential rate cuts on the horizon. U.S. benchmark crude oil prices rose slightly, with Brent crude also gaining 4 cents, while the euro dipped slightly against the dollar.
Asian markets extend gains, with Chinese shares up more than 1%, after Wall Street rally
