Asia shares gain on US-China trade hopes, oil eases
Asian stocks rose on Friday as Wall Street gains and signs of thaw in US-China relations boosted investor confidence, while oil prices eased following new US sanctions on Russian suppliers.
Intel’s results after the New York close beat expectations, contributing to positive earnings reports in the US. Japan’s Nikkei stock index jumped ahead of a speech in which the country’s new prime minister is expected to talk about stimulus. Crude oil futures pared their weekly rise on the back of new US restrictions on Russia’s two largest oil companies.
As the U.S. government shutdown overshadows most economic data, attention turns to Friday’s consumer price numbers for signals about the Fed’s policy meeting next week.
Confidence rose after the White House confirmed that US President Donald Trump will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his tour of Asia next week as the tariff deadline approaches.
“The announcement signals confidence among senior delegates in Malaysia that trade talks in the coming days are likely to produce positive results,” Kyle Rodda, senior market analyst at Capitital.com, wrote about the White House statement.
“It is unlikely that either side will set its leaders up for some strange failure trap.”
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.5 percent in early trading. Japan’s Nikkei stock index rose 1.2 percent.
The US dollar index, which measures the dollar’s performance against a range of currencies, rose 0.1 percent to 99.00. The euro fell 0.1 per cent to US$1.161 ($A1.784) and the yen weakened 0.2 per cent against the dollar to 152.85.
Trump will depart for Malaysia late Friday night and will also visit Japan and South Korea and meet with Xi next Thursday. Trade tensions between Washington and Beijing are escalating, and the meeting between the two leaders will take place just before the Nov. 1 deadline for the imposition of additional 100 percent U.S. tariffs on imports from China.
In the US calendar, Friday’s core consumer price index print, an important input for Fed policy, is expected to remain steady at 3.1 percent. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said last week that it would release the report despite the government shutdown — now in its 23rd day — to assist the Social Security Administration in its annual cost-of-living adjustment.
In Japan, according to Friday’s data, core consumer prices increased by 2.9 percent on an annual basis in September, remaining above the central bank’s 2.0 percent target and keeping market expectations for a short-term interest rate increase alive.
Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will give a highly anticipated speech in the afternoon as her government is reportedly considering a major spending package.
Shares of Intel rose in after-hours trading after the company beat September quarter profit expectations.
In early trading in Europe, pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures were up 0.16 percent at 5,689 points, German DAX futures were up 0.14 percent at 24,345, and FTSE futures were up 0.04 percent at 9,623.5 points.
US stock futures S&P 500 e-minis rose 0.12 percent to 6,783 points.
In cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin rose 0.8 per cent to $110,512.30 ($A169,786.41), while Ethereum rose 1.2 per cent to $3,878.01 ($A5,958.01).
Spot gold rose 0.3 per cent to US$4,138.52 ($6,358.25) an ounce but was still on track for its worst week since May.
Oil prices rose after Washington announced new sanctions on major Russian suppliers Rosneft and Lukoil late Wednesday, increasing pressure on the Kremlin to end the war in Ukraine.
US crude oil fell 0.7 per cent to US$61.38 (A$A94.30) per barrel and Brent fell 0.7 per cent to US$65.55 (A$A100.71) per barrel on the day.
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