Asian Markets Higher as Fed Rate Cut Hopes Lift Global Sentiment
Asian shares traded mostly higher on Tuesday, following record closes on Wall Street and rising expectations that the US Federal Reserve will deliver its first interest rate cut of the year this week.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 returned from a holiday to briefly surpass 45,000 points for the first time during regular trading, before easing slightly. By the afternoon session, the index was at 44,975.69, up 0.5%.
Elsewhere in the region:
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Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.3% to 8,875.60.
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South Korea’s Kospi advanced 1.2% to 3,448.69.
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Hong Kong’s Hang Seng reversed earlier losses, climbing 0.3% to 26,512.58.
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China’s Shanghai Composite added 0.2% to 3,866.50.
Global sentiment was also buoyed by news that a framework deal had been reached between the US and China over the ownership of social media platform TikTok, according to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent following weekend trade talks in Spain.
Meanwhile, gold prices hit a record high on Monday as the US dollar weakened, underscoring safe-haven demand.
On Wall Street, all three major indices ended higher:
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Dow Jones Industrial Average: +0.1% to 45,883.45
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S&P 500: +0.5% to 6,615.28 (new record)
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Nasdaq Composite: +0.9% to 22,348.75 (new record)
In the bond market, the yield on 10-year US Treasury notes eased to 4.044%, down from 4.070% on Sunday.
