Asia-Pacific markets generally rose, with Japan's TOPIX index breaking through the peak of the bubble era, and South Korean stocks hitting a two-and-a-half-year high
The Asia-Pacific markets are generally up, with the Nikkei Stock Average in Japan breaking through the peak of the bubble era and the Korean stock market hitting a two-and-a-half-year high. Global markets are warming up to the September rate cut by the Federal Reserve, leading to a collective rise in Asia-Pacific stock markets. The Nikkei Stock Average in Japan hit a historic high, while the Seoul Composite Index in South Korea expanded by 1%, reaching a new high since January 2022
The US economic data released last night fell short of expectations, with the market heating up bets on a September rate cut by the Federal Reserve. Asian stock markets followed the record highs of US stocks and collectively rose.
On Thursday, July 4th, the Japanese stock market hit a new high, with the Korean composite index and the Australian S&P/ASX 200 index both rising by over 1%. The Korean stock market is expected to refresh its year-to-date high, while the Indonesian SENSEX 30 index rose by 0.69%.
The Nikkei 225 index rose by 0.6% to reach 2889.13 points, surpassing the historical peak set in December 1989 during the bubble period. The automotive manufacturing industry led the gains, with Toyota rising by 1.35% to 3370 Japanese yen and Honda rising by 1.90%.
Hideyuki Ishiguro, Chief Strategist at Nomura Asset Management Co., stated:
Unlike the Nikkei 225, which represents some stocks, the movement of the Nikkei Stock Average represents the overall market, indicating that the overall Japanese market is bottoming out and reaching historical highs. Due to Japan's escape from deflation, valuations remain lower compared to the United States.
The Japanese yen hit a new low in a decade, with the current USD/JPY exchange rate at 161.54. Earlier, the market warned that the yen exchange rate may fall below the 170 mark.
The Seoul Composite Index in South Korea expanded its intraday gain to 1%, reaching a new high since January 2022. If it maintains this gain during the day, it will refresh the closing high since 2024, with chip stocks rising.
On July 4th, there were reports in the South Korean media that Samsung Electronics' HBM3e chip had passed Nvidia's product testing, and Samsung would soon start mass-producing HBM and negotiate the supply to Nvidia. However, Samsung later denied reports that its HBM3e chip had passed testing by major customers.
The Australian S&P/ASX 200 index saw its intraday gain expand to 1.1%. Hang Seng Index futures reported 18012 points, higher than the previous closing price of 17978.57 points for the Hang Seng Index