On Wednesday morning (29 October, 9:25 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), most major indices in Asia Pacific surged, led by Japan’s Nikkei 225 which rose over the 51,000 mark for the first time, as optimism over strengthening U.S.-Japan trade relations and growing speculation of a further rate cut from the Federal Reserve buoyed investor sentiment.
The rally followed the announcement on Tuesday that U.S. President Donald Trump and Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi had reached an agreement on a new rare earths framework—an arrangement viewed by traders as a significant step in deepening economic cooperation between the two nations.
Investor confidence was further supported by expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve would enact another rate cut, a move intended to address decelerating economic growth. According to CNBC, traders now see nearly a 100% probability that the Federal Open Market Committee will deliver another quarter-point reduction, which would set the federal funds rate within a 3.75%-4.00% range.
Meanwhile, markets in Hong Kong are closed for the holidays.
Japan’s NIKKEI jumped by 1.99% to 51,219.55. South Korea’s KOSPI soared by 1.68% to 4,077.94, while Australia’s ASX 200 lost 0.71% to 8,948.20.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC climbed by 0.12% to 3,993.13, and Shenzhen’s SZI rose by 0.56% to 13,505.45.
The U.S. stock markets edged up on Tuesday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) surged by 0.34% to 47,706.37. NASDAQ expanded by 0.80% to 23,827.49, and S&P 500 gained 0.23% to 6,890.89. VIX increased by 3.99% to 16.42.
As for commodities, oil prices settled lower on Tuesday, extending losses for a third consecutive session, as traders evaluated the effects of U.S. sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies and weighed the possibility of increased production from OPEC+. Brent crude futures closed $1.22 lower, down 1.9%, at $64.40 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures declined by $1.16, or 1.9%, to settle at $60.15 per barrel.
This morning, Brent crude futures escalated 6 cents, or 0.09%, to $64.46 per barrel, and the WTI advanced 6 cents, or 0.10%, to $60.21 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures slid by 0.05% to $3,981.1 per Troy ounce.
