Asian shares advance, tracking rally on Wall Street
At the same time, a stunningly weak US jobs report Friday raised expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates at its next meeting in September, potentially a plus for markets. This week's highlights will likely include earnings reports from The Walt Disney Co, McDonald's and Caterpillar, along with updates on US business activity.
In Asian trading, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.6% to 40,549.54, while the Kospi in South Korea jumped 1.6% to 3,198.00. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng rose 0.6% to 24,855.78. The Shanghai Composite index surged 1% to 3,617.60. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 jumped 1.2% to 8,770.40, while the SET in Thailand climbed 1.6%.
India's Sensex was the sole outlier, losing 0.3% on concerns over trade tensions with the United States, with the Trump administration insisting on cutbacks in oil purchases from Russia. India has indicated that it will continue buying oil from Russia, saying its relationship with Moscow was 'steady and time-tested,' and that its stance on securing its energy needs is guided by the availability of oil in the markets and prevailing global circumstances.
"Trump's threats of 'substantial' tariff hikes on account of imports of Russian crude pose a quagmire for India,' Mizuho Bank said in a commentary. "Between exacerbated U.S.-imposed geo-economic headwinds and financial/macro setbacks from Russian oil advantages lost, pain will be hard to avert.' On Monday, the S&P 500 jumped 1.5% to 6,329.94.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.3%, or 585.06 points, to 44,173.64. The Nasdaq composite leaped 2% to 21,053.58. Idexx Laboratories helped Wall Street recover from its worst day since May, soaring 27.5% after the seller of veterinary instruments and other health care products reported a stronger profit for the spring than analysts expected.
The pressure is on U.S. companies to deliver bigger profits after their stock prices shot to record after record recently. Reports from big U.S. companies have largely come in better than expected and could help steady a US stock market that may have been due for some turbulence.
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