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Asian equity markets displayed divergent movement Monday as investors digested positive momentum from U.S. trading last week. Japan’s Nikkei 225 led regional advances with a 2% surge to 66,890.02, driven primarily by strength in technology and semiconductor equipment manufacturers. Tokyo Electron and Advantest, both major chipmakers, posted gains of 3.5% and 4.9% respectively.
South Korea’s Kospi index rose more modestly, gaining 0.8% to 6,305.86 as major semiconductor firms declined. Samsung Electronics fell 0.9% while SK Hynix dropped 1.3%, with analysts citing foreign investor profit-taking in Big Tech holdings and portfolio rebalancing into defense contractors. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 0.6% to 25,810.95, while Shanghai’s benchmark index remained essentially flat at 3,941.48.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 retreated 0.4% to 9,231.00, contrasting with gains in Taiwan’s Taiex, which surged 1.8%, and India’s Sensex, which edged up 0.1%. Oil markets strengthened amid geopolitical tensions, with Brent crude climbing 0.6% to $84.04 per barrel and U.S. crude rising 0.5% to $78.58 per barrel.
Friday’s U.S. jobs report, showing an unexpected loss of 23,000 positions, fueled optimism about Federal Reserve rate policy and drove major American indices to consecutive weekly gains. The S&P 500 reached an all-time high of 7,757.64 following a 0.6% increase, while the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.3% to 26,690.62. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3% to 54,036.93.
Employment weakness raised investor expectations for a prolonged pause in interest rate increases, with Treasury yields declining across the curve. The 10-year yield fell to 4.64% from 4.67%, while the two-year Treasury dropped to 4.20% from 4.22%. Revisions to prior months subtracted 103,000 combined jobs from June and May payrolls.
Technology stocks provided the broadest market support, with Nvidia climbing 2.3% and Broadcom advancing 1.7%. This week investors anticipate key inflation readings, with the consumer price index forecast at 3.4% for July versus 3.5% in June. The U.S. dollar strengthened to 158.37 Japanese yen while the euro weakened to $1.1553.
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