Tokyo, Japan
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Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed despite gains on Wall Street as investors focused on tech gains in giant stocks to propel the Nasdaq Composite Index to new heights this week.
Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.62%, extending its rise from the previous day. This comes after the ruling Liberal Democratic Party lost its parliamentary majority after voters cast their votes on Sunday to decide the majority in the lower house, leaving Japan’s ruling coalition with a majority. This is the first loss since 2009.
Japan’s unemployment rate in September was 2.4%, compared to 2.5% the previous month. This was slightly below Reuters’ forecast for a 2.5% rise.
The Kospi fell 0.51% and the Kosdaq fell 0.41%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.36%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 1.21%, while China’s CSI300 index rose 0.17% in the first hour of trading.
Asian traders will also be monitoring Singapore’s unemployment data.
Stock prices soared overnight in the United States. The S&P 500 rose 0.27% to close at 5,823.52. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 273.17 points, or 0.65%, to end at 42,387.57. The Nasdaq rose 0.26% to close at 18,567.19.
This week is the busiest week of the third-quarter earnings season, and the final week leading up to the US presidential election on November 5th and the Federal Reserve’s policy decision on November 7th.
Five of the Magnificent Seven – Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Amazon and Apple – are scheduled to release their latest financial results this week. Traders are also keeping an eye on October’s jobs report, which will be released on Friday.
—CNBC’s Hakyung Kim and Tanaya Macheel contributed to this report.
