Asia markets trading higher as China stimulus plans boost sentiment; Aussie rate decision in focus
Statues of bulls in Pudong’s Lujiazui Financial District in Shanghai, China, on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024.
Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets are trading mostly higher Tuesday, following losses on Wall Street that saw the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite pull back from record highs ahead of key inflation data.
Traders in Asia assessed Beijing’s announcement of “more proactive” fiscal measures and “moderately” looser monetary policy next year aimed at boosting domestic consumption.
Mainland China’s CSI 300 index surged 3.2%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 1.3% in early trading on Tuesday.
News of the measures, which came from an official readout late Monday after mainland China market had closed, had sent the Hang Seng index nearly 3% higher that evening.
Investors also await an interest rate decision from Australia set for later in the day. A poll from Reuters expects the Reserve Bank of Australia to hold the benchmark rate at 4.35% for the 10th consecutive time.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was trading down 0.5%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 0.1% in early trade, while the Topix gained 0.2%.
South Korea’s benchmark Kospi jumped 2.2%, while the small-cap Kosdaq was up 4.7% as investors continue to monitor the country’s political situation.
In the U.S. on Monday, tech shares struggled and investors prepared for key inflation data that will be released this week.
The broad market S&P 500 fell 0.61% to close at 6,052.85, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq slid 0.62% to end at 19,736.69. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 240.59 points, or 0.54%, settling at 44,401.93.
AI bellwether Nvidia saw its shares dropped about 2.6% after a Chinese regulator announced that it was investigating the artificial intelligence chip behemoth for potentially violating the country’s antitrust law.
Advanced Micro Devices, another chipmaker, closed 5.6% lower, while tech giants Meta Platforms and Netflix also struggled.
Bitcoin prices also retreated after topping $100,000 for the first time ever last week, a sign that investors might be souring on risk assets.
— CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Sarah Min contributed to this report.
