Stock markets across Asia mostly advanced early Tuesday, extending an upbeat mood that followed a strong rally on Wall Street a day earlier.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up in early trading to 8,748.20, while South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.6% to 7,120.25. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained nearly 0.6% to 25,185.26, and the Shanghai Composite rose 0.4% to 3,964.45. Markets in Tokyo remained closed for an extended holiday and are set to resume trading Thursday.
Wall Street Sets the Tone
The positive momentum in Asia followed a sharp climb on Wall Street, where the S&P 500 jumped 1.5% and closed within 0.4% of the record high it set last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 366.19 points, or 0.7%, to 52,048.83, while the Nasdaq composite surged 2.3% to a fresh all-time high of 27,122.09. The S&P 500 finished at 7,764.70, up 114.20 points on the day.
Gains on Wall Street were driven largely by chipmakers and other companies tied to the artificial-intelligence industry, which have been rebounding after a global slide at the start of the previous week. Industry leaders have recently cautioned that a slowdown in AI development may be necessary for safety reasons, though the sector’s stocks have continued to strengthen in recent sessions.
Oil and Bond Yields Ease Pressure
A pullback in oil prices also contributed to easing pressure on financial markets. Benchmark U.S. crude rose 0.43% to $96.19 a barrel in Asian trading, while Brent crude, the international standard, gained 0.65% to $100.99 a barrel. Both remain well above the roughly $72 level seen earlier in the summer but are down from nearly $110 touched the previous week, as oil prices have swung amid disruptions tied to conflicts in the Middle East affecting shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
Monday’s decline in oil prices helped relieve some strain in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury eased to 4.95%, down from 5.01% late Friday, after having crossed above the 5% threshold the previous week for the first time since 2023.
Currency Moves
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar edged up to 157.43 Japanese yen from 157.31 yen, while the euro rose slightly to $1.1474 from $1.1469.
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