Asian share markets witnessed an upward trend on Monday, fueled by tech-driven gains on Wall Street, while the Japanese yen found itself at unprecedented lows against the euro and Swiss franc. This decline came despite higher domestic interest rates failing to deter speculative selling.
Financial turnover remained modest during the holiday-shortened week globally. Analysts forecast that delayed U.S. economic data will reveal continued robust growth in the third quarter, with an annualized increase of 3.2%. This is attributed partially to a significant reduction in imports following a previous surge prompted by impending tariffs. Bank of America analysts, however, issued a caution as their investor sentiment measure reached an extreme bullish territory, historically preceding market pullbacks.
Japan’s Nikkei index climbed by 1.5%, benefiting from a steep yen decline that promised to boost export earnings for Japanese companies. The Bank of Japan’s recent interest rate hike to a 30-year high placed additional pressure on government bonds. Meanwhile, global investors remained alert for potential currency intervention, given the yen’s record low against the euro.