Asian shares rallied on Friday as Wall Street earnings and signs of a thaw in US-China relations boosted investor sentiment, while oil prices eased following fresh US sanctions on Russian suppliers.
Intel results after the close in New York beat expectations, adding to a batch of positive US earnings reports. Japan’s Nikkei share gauge jumped before a speech where the nation’s new prime minister is expected to talk about stimulus. Crude futures trimmed a weekly advance spurred by new US curbs on Russia’s two biggest oil companies.
As the US government shutdown blots out most economic data, the spotlight is on Friday’s consumer price figures for signals about next week’s policy meeting at the Federal Reserve.
Sentiment was buoyed after the White House confirmed US President Donald Trump will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping next week during a tour through Asia as a tariff deadline looms.
“The announcement signals confidence that trade talks to be held in Malaysia between high level delegates in the coming days are likely to yield positive results,” Capitital.com senior market analyst Kyle Rodda wrote about the White House statement.
“It’s unlikely either side would set their leader up for an awkward failure.”
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.5 per cent in early trade. Japan’s Nikkei stock index rose 1.2 per cent.
The US dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, added 0.1 per cent to 99.00. The euro edged down 0.1 per cent to $US1.161 ($A1.784), and the yen weakened 0.2 per cent to 152.85 versus the dollar.
Trump departs for Malaysia late on Friday night and will also visit Japan and South Korea, where he will meet Xi next Thursday. Trade tension between Washington and Beijing has been escalating, and a meeting between the two leaders would come just before a Nov. 1 deadline for an additional 100 per cent US tariff to be imposed on Chinese imports.
On the US calendar, Friday’s core consumer price index print, a key input for Fed policy, is widely expected to hold steady at 3.1 per cent. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics said last week it would publish the report despite the government shutdown – now in its 23rd day – to assist the Social Security Administration with its annual cost-of-living adjustment.
In Japan, core consumer prices rose 2.9 per cent year-on-year in September, data showed on Friday, staying above the central bank’s 2.0 per cent target and keeping alive market expectations of a near-term interest rate hike.
Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will deliver a highly anticipated speech in the afternoon as her government reportedly mulls a sizeable spending package.
Intel’s shares surged in after-hours trading after the company beat expectations for September-quarter profit.
In early European trades, the pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures were up 0.16 per cent at 5,689, German DAX futures rose 0.14 per cent at 24,345, FTSE futures edged up 0.04 per cent at 9,623.5.
US stock futures, the S&P 500 e-minis, rose 0.12 per cent at 6,783.
In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin gained 0.8 per cent to $US110,512.30 ($A169,786.41), and ether rose 1.2 per cent to $US3,878.01 ($A5,958.01).
Spot gold was up 0.3 per cent at $US4,138.52 ($A6,358.25) per ounce, but still on track for its worst week since May.
Oil prices surged after Washington announced late Wednesday new sanctions on major Russian suppliers Rosneft and Lukoil, adding pressure on the Kremlin to end the war in Ukraine.
US crude retreated 0.7 per cent to $US61.38 ($A94.30) a barrel and Brent fell to $US65.55 ($A100.71) per barrel, down 0.7 per cent on the day.
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