Asian Shares Rise as China's Leaders Initiate Key Economic Meeting

On Monday, shares in Asia saw an upward trend as China's leaders kicked off a significant economic meeting. This gathering is expected to lead to new commitments aimed at supporting the world’s second-largest economy.

Meanwhile, oil prices also experienced a surge, increasing by more than $1 per barrel. This rise followed an announcement from OPEC+ oil-producing nations about extending production cuts until the end of the year.

No specific reason was provided for this decision, which comes just ahead of the U.S. presidential election scheduled for Tuesday.

In electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, U.S. benchmark crude oil saw an increase of $1.27, reaching $70.76 a barrel. Similarly, Brent crude, the international standard, climbed by $1.30 to $74.70 a barrel.

This week, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress convened, and analysts predict that the government may endorse significant spending initiatives to rejuvenate the economy. According to Stephen Innes from SPI Asset Management, there is a palpable excitement in the markets with talks of new stimulus packages circulating, raising expectations dramatically.

Among the key index movements, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.1% to 20,540.44, while the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.3% reaching 3,281.76. Market activity in Tokyo was quiet as it was closed for a holiday.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 edged up by 0.2% to 8,134.60, and in South Korea, the Kospi experienced a significant jump of 1%, reaching 2,568.85. Taiwan's Taiex index also saw a 0.3% increase.

Looking at the U.S. market, Amazon led the charge with its stock helping to elevate indexes on Friday. A disappointing jobs report added to uncertainty, but it also fueled speculation that the Federal Reserve might implement another interest rate cut soon.

The S&P 500 rose 0.4% to 5,728.80, recovering some of its losses from the previous day, which was its most significant drop in eight weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed by 0.7% to 42,052.19, and the Nasdaq composite increased by 0.8% to 18,239.92.

Amazon shares surged by 6.2% after the company reported a stronger quarterly profit than expected, which was a primary driving force behind the rise in the S&P 500. Conversely, Apple observed a 1.2% decline, as it projected lower revenue growth for the holiday season.

Treasury yields experienced an uptick following a report indicating that U.S. employers added only 12,000 jobs last month—far below the anticipated 115,000. Additionally, a separate report showed a contraction in U.S. manufacturing that was more pronounced than economists had expected, particularly due to the Federal Reserve's previous rate hikes.

Despite these challenges, Wall Street’s consensus predicts that the Fed will lower its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point in the upcoming week, which could help maintain economic resilience.

In currency exchange, the dollar slipped to 152.05 Japanese yen from 152.42 yen, while the euro fell slightly to $1.0879 from $1.0881.

Asia, Economy, Market