Hong Kong (AFP) – Asian shares extended gains Tuesday following a Wall Street rally, with Tokyo’s Nikkei jumping more than two percent to another record following Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s stunning election triumph. Gains across world markets have brought some calm to trading floors after last week’s asset-wide rollercoaster ride, with tech firms battered by AI spending fears finding their feet. Investors were also gearing up for the release of key US data this week hoping for a fresh insight into the world’s biggest economy and an idea about the Federal Reserve’s plans for interest rates.
Stocks in Tokyo continued their blistering run at the start of the week that came on the back of Takaichi’s landslide lower-house election win that paves the way for increased fiscal stimulus and massive tax cuts. Tech firms, which have been a key driver of the Nikkei’s surge over the past year to multiple record highs, led the way again with investment giant SoftBank piling on more than 10 percent, while Tokyo Electron, Sony, and Advantest were also sharply higher.
However, Nozomi Moriya of UBS Securities warned the premier had to meet expectations. “As the market is already starting to price in expectations before they actually materialise, whether such hopes will be realised and then surpassed is something that will need to be monitored,” she wrote. “The Takaichi administration now needs to make some critical decisions, including whether to prioritise economic policy in addition to security measures, and whether to prioritise growth as well as focus on such measures as cutting consumption tax on food.”
There were also big gains in Hong Kong, Sydney, Seoul, Shanghai, Taipei, Manila, and Wellington. Sentiment was given a lift by another strong day on Wall Street, where Magnificent Seven members Microsoft, Meta, and Nvidia led the charge. However, investors remain concerned about the vast sums of cash pumped into the artificial intelligence sector, with questions being asked about when profits will be realised, if at all.
“Several big tech results have revived investor concerns about huge spending, with Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft collectively expected to spend around $650 billion in the race to win AI dominance,” said City Index senior market analyst Fiona Cincotta. Attention also turns to the macro outlook this week, with Washington due to release key non-farm payrolls figures Wednesday, having been delayed from Friday owing to a brief government shutdown. Closely-watched inflation and retail sales figures are also lined up for release.
The readings come amid signs of weakness in the US labour market, with Donald Trump’s top economic adviser Kevin Hassett warning of more soft readings to come. “I think that you should expect slightly smaller job numbers that are consistent with high GDP growth right now,” he told CNBC on Monday. “One shouldn’t panic if you see a sequence of numbers that are lower than you’re used to, because, again, population growth is going down and productivity growth is skyrocketing.”
– Key figures at around 0230 GMT –
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: 2.8 percent at 57,926.07 (break)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 1.3 percent at 27,367.12
Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 4,131.80
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 155.70 yen from 155.90 yen on Monday
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1909 from $1.1918
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3687 from $1.3695
Euro/pound: UP at 87.00 pence from 86.99 pence
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.2 percent at $64.23 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.1 percent at $68.94 per barrel
New York – Dow: FLAT at 50,135.87 (close)
London – FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 10,386.23 (close)
© 2024 AFP
