Asian Shares Edge Up to Near Record, China Slips: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) — Asian stocks hovered near a record, following a tech-driven rally that pushed Wall Street to yet another peak. Shares in Hong Kong and mainland China fell.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.1%, paring some of its morning gains. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong fell 0.7% with the city facing its most damaging typhoon since 2018. Baidu Inc. shares dropped as much as 7%. There will be no cash trading of Treasuries during the Asian day as Tokyo is closed for a public holiday.

The S&P 500 notched its 28th record of the year as Nvidia Corp. jumped about 4% after pledging to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI. Asian chip-related stocks such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. rose. A gauge of the dollar consolidated as investors awaited speeches by more Federal Reserve officials to better gauge the central bank’s policy path. Gold dipped after climbing to a record.

Wall Street traders shrugged off calls for a pause after a $15 trillion rally from April lows, with technology stocks leading the advance. US equities, up for three straight weeks on the back of the Fed’s first rate cut of the year, now face a key test with quarterly earnings looming.

“The bias remains to be long US equity indices,” wrote Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone Group. “I see little reason – tactically and technically – to alter that stance, with pullbacks likely to be shallow and well supported.”

Action was relatively muted in the bond market Tuesday, with US yields slightly higher ahead of this week’s Treasury auctions and a key inflation reading. The Fed’s preferred gauge of underlying inflation likely grew at a slower pace last month, offering policymakers some breathing room to address weakness in the US labor market.

The report on Friday is forecast to show the personal consumption expenditures price index excluding food and energy rose 0.2% in August, compared with 0.3% in July. On an annual basis, the so-called core measure is seen holding at a still-elevated 2.9%.

Several Fed officials are set to speak at public events this week, including Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday. In his first policy speech since joining the Fed, Governor Stephen Miran laid out his argument for aggressively lowering interest rates.

Meantime, Fed Bank of St. Louis President Alberto Musalem noted he sees limited room for cuts amid elevated inflation. His Cleveland counterpart Beth Hammack said officials should be cautious to avoid overheating the economy.

Elsewhere, New Zealand is set to appoint a woman as head of its central bank for the first time as it seeks to refresh an institution damaged by leadership turmoil, according to a person familiar with the matter. In another twist, the new Reserve Bank of New Zealand governor is a foreigner, the person said, asking not to be named discussing market-sensitive information. They wouldn’t identify the new governor.

In Hong Kong, super typhoon Ragasa poses a potential test for the city’s push to keep markets open during severe weather.

Corporate News:

The Trump administration linked Tylenol to autism and urged pregnant women to avoid the common pain medication despite the lack of widely accepted scientific evidence supporting the risk. Oracle Corp. accelerated its succession plans for top leadership in recent months following a massive acceleration in its cloud business and stock market rally. Zijin Gold International Co., which is currently taking orders to raise $3.2 billion in the world’s biggest initial public offering in months, may have to delay its trading debut in Hong Kong next week because of super typhoon Ragasa. Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 12:07 p.m. Tokyo time Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.6% Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.6% The Shanghai Composite fell 0.9% Euro Stoxx 50 futures were little changed Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1802 The Japanese yen was little changed at 147.82 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.1170 per dollar Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin fell 1% to $111,739.17 Ether fell 1.2% to $4,134.72 Bonds

Australia’s 10-year yield was little changed at 4.27% Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.5% to $61.96 a barrel Spot gold fell 0.2% to $3,740.39 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Jason Scott.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.