Asian Market Review

Asian markets are trading broadly higher Thursday morning on investor optimism over the withdrawal of the Hong Kong extradition bill, and the improving Brexit situation.

Japan’s Nikkei is trading up by 1.5%, helped not only by the improvement in global geopolitics, but also by weakness in the Yen versus the U.S. dollar. The Japanese currency is thought of as a safe haven, and the current uptick in risk appetite has traders selling Yen. That helps shares of Japanese exporters who get paid overseas and repatriate their profits at a better exchange rate.

In Australia the s&P/ASX 200 has a 0.6% gain heading into the afternoon. Shares of the big four banks are solidly higher in a range of 0.6% to 0.8%, while major miners BHP and Rio Tinto trade up by 2.2% and 1.4% respectively. Oil majors have also rallied in response to overnight gains for crude with Woodside Petroleum 2.2% higher, and Oil Search up 2.5%.

Woodside Petroleum chart

Mainland Chinese markets have opened higher as well on news from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce that U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators will meet in October. Both the Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Composite are trading 0.5% higher. However, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is slightly lower by less than 0.1% as investors are pausing after the stunning 3.9% rally from the prior session.

In South Korea the Kospi has gained 0.6%, while Taiwan’s Taiex trades up by 0.8%.

Southeast Asian markets are higher as well, with the Straits Times Inde in Singapore adding 0.4%, while Malaysia’s KLCI edges up by less than 0.1%.


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