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Asian equity markets opened the week with strong gains, led by Japan, after the ruling party’s early election victory and growing expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will continue cutting interest rates, lifted risk appetite across regions.
The election result left the LDP with around a two-thirds majority in the lower house, feeding expectations for increased fiscal stimulus and large tax cuts, which helped lift Japan’s Nikkei over 5% to a fresh all-time high of 57,757 points.
The momentum spread across Asia, with South Korea’s Kospi rising about 4% to extend its record run, while China’s Shanghai Composite gained 1.3% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.8%.
The advance in Asian markets also followed a firm close in U.S. markets at the end of last week. All three main Wall Street indexes finished in positive territory after a short-lived pullback linked to concerns about a possible artificial intelligence bubble.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed the 50,000-point level for the first time, marking a milestone close. Still, the ongoing uncertainty surrounding technology shares, where heavy artificial intelligence investment has raised questions about the timing and certainty of returns.
Precious metals moved unevenly after stabilizing from last week’s volatility. Gold traded near $5,000 after a 1.4% increase, while silver jumped 5% to around $80. Palladium edged up 0.7% to $1,724.03, whereas platinum slipped 0.4% to $2,095.75.
Oil prices drifted lower by roughly 1% as geopolitical tensions eased following nuclear talks between Iran and the United States in Oman. Tehran described the meeting as “a step forward.” U.S. benchmark WTI crude hovered near $62.9 per barrel and Brent traded around $67.3.
Cryptocurrency markets posted a mild upward rebound after last week’s drop. Bitcoin rose 1.5% to move back above $70,000. Ethereum fell 0.6% to about $2,070, while XRP gained 0.8% to trade near $1.43.
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