Rise in Asian Markets! The Future of the USA is Coming Back

Winds of Rise in Asian Markets

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian stock indices generally rose, and U.S. futures increased following a positive close on Wall Street after last week’s fluctuations.

While markets in Japan were closed due to a holiday, Hong Kong's main index, the Hang Seng, rose by 1.3% to reach 25,550.89. This increase was driven by strong demand reported for the new Qwen AI application from e-commerce giant Alibaba. Alibaba is set to release its earnings report tomorrow.

The Shanghai Composite Index was one of the few regional markets to decline, falling by 0.3% to 3,821.68.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index saw a 1.1% increase, reaching 8,507.60. In South Korea, the Kospi rose following a recovery in technology stocks after several days of volatility.

Taiwan's Taiex index increased by 0.4%, while India's Sensex gained 0.1%.

For the U.S. markets, the S&P 500 rose by 0.6%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 0.3%.

This week, U.S. markets will be closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving. Following that, Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales will begin.

After last week’s fluctuations related to artificial intelligence and Nvidia, investors will focus on consumer spending, which is the backbone of U.S. growth. Stephen Innes from SPI Asset Management stated, “Consumer spending still supports two-thirds of GDP.”

The lack of significant data on the U.S. economy has left investors struggling to understand economic trends. Innes remarked, “Any activity during the holidays — foot traffic, discount depth, card approvals — becomes disproportionately important. In a data desert, even a bubble looks like a lake.”

On Friday, the S&P 500 rose by 1% to reach 6,602.99, while the Dow increased by 1.1% to 46,245.41. The Nasdaq Composite Index saw an increase of 0.9%, rising to 22,273.08. Nearly 90% of stocks in the S&P 500 gained value.

This was a fitting close for the S&P 500, which was only 4.2% below its record level last week, but it forced investors to face the highest hourly fluctuations since sharp selling in April. Investors are grappling with fundamental questions about whether Nvidia, Bitcoin, and other Wall Street stars are overpriced and whether the Federal Reserve has completed its interest rate cuts.

The optimism in the markets stemmed from remarks made by John Williams, President of the New York Federal Reserve, at a conference in Chile. Williams indicated that there is “room for further adjustment” in interest rates. Other Fed officials pushed back against the possibility of a reduction in December, citing still high monthly inflation rates.

In the bond market, Treasury bonds dipped on Friday amid hopes of potential Fed interest rate cuts. Investors raised the likelihood of a December cut to 72%, a significant increase from 39% the previous day. This resulted in the yield on the 10-year Treasury bond falling from 4.10% to 4.06% on Friday.

In other trades on Monday morning, U.S. benchmark crude fell to $58.00. International benchmark Brent crude declined to $61.90. The U.S. dollar rose to 156.65 Japanese yen.

Bitcoin rose by 3.2% to reach $87,350. On Friday, Bitcoin briefly fell below $81,000 before recovering to $85,000. This value has decreased significantly from nearly $125,000 last month, marking a return to the market fluctuations seen in April.