Asian stock markets were mixed on Tuesday, with most indices gaining on expectations of a U.S. Federal Reserve rate cut next week, while Japan’s Nikkei hit a record high after Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s resignation.
Wall Street ended modestly higher on Monday, with the NASDAQ Composite hitting a record high close. U.S. stock index futures edged higher in Asia hours on Tuesday.
Japan stocks hit record high after PM Ishiba resigns Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose as much as 1.2% to 44,185.7 points on Tuesday, its highest level ever. However, the index pared all its gains to trade 0.1% higher at 43,673.6 points as of 04:05 GMT.
The index was set for its fourth consecutive day of gains. The broader TOPIX was largely unchanged.
The move comes after Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba stepped down on Sunday following heavy election losses and growing internal party dissent.
This sparked expectations that his successor may pursue more expansionary fiscal and monetary policies. Political uncertainty, paradoxically, helped lift equities as bets grew that the Bank of Japan would delay further tightening.
The rise was also attributed to data on Monday showing that revised second-quarter gross domestic product expanded at a 2.2% annualized rate, up from an earlier estimate of 1.0%, driven by robust private consumption and contributions from inventory gains.
On a quarterly basis, GDP rose 0.5%, exceeding the initial 0.3% projection.
3rd party Ad. Not an offer or recommendation by Investing.com. See disclosure here or remove ads. Broader market sentiment was upbeat on news of a U.S.-Japan deal lowering tariffs on Japanese auto exports by mid-September.
Hong Kong, S. Korea lead gains tracking Wall St Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jumped as much as 1.5% in early trade, with the sub-index Hang Seng TECH climbing on optimism around tech-heavy Nasdaq hitting a record high. Hang Seng traded 0.8% higher at the time of writing.
In South Korea, the KOSPI also advanced 1.1%.
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (KS:005930) shares rose 1.2%, and SK Hynix Inc (KS:000660) shares added 3.2%.
China’s Shanghai Composite index edged 0.3% lower, while the Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 fell 0.4%.
Elsewhere, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.7%, pressured by financial stocks.
ANZ Group (ASX:ANZ) shares fell 0.7% after Australia’s fourth-largest bank unveiled plans to cut 3,500 jobs next year and take a A$560 million restructuring charge.
India’s Nifty 50 index edged 0.3% higher at open, while Singapore’s Straits Times Index edged 0.3% lower.
