Asian stocks advanced alongside US equity-index futures, suggesting that the seven-month rally in global equities may still have room to run amid strong tech earnings and easing US–China trade tensions.
Contracts for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 rose 0.2% after the underlying gauges gained Friday, with earnings optimism outweighing worries about a rally that’s heavily concentrated on tech giants.
Asian shares advanced 0.3%, with South Korea reaching a record, while Chinese indexes fell. Markets in Japan and cash trading of Treasuries were closed on Monday due to a holiday.
Commodity markets were in focus, with gold fluctuating after early declines following China’s scrapping of a long-standing tax incentive. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.5% after OPEC+ decided to pause output increases.
Stocks have rallied to record levels, even after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned that a December rate cut isn’t a foregone conclusion and megacap tech earnings were mixed.
Trade tensions have also eased, with Beijing signaling plans to suspend new export controls on rare earth metals and end investigations into US firms in the semiconductor supply chain.
