Asia-Pacific (APAC) share markets were buoyant on Monday with the Australian market hitting a new record high and all others except Hong Kong trading higher in early trade.
As of 11:15am AEDT (12:15 am GMT), Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index was up by 0.27% at 9,011.23 points after earlier hitting a record high of 9,026.4, beating the previous peak of 9,019.1 reached on 21 August 2025.
The mood was set in the United States on Friday where two of the three benchmarks finished higher as investors continued to build in expectations of lower interest rates despite a continued government shutdown.
On other APAC bourses outside China, India’s BSE Sensex was 0.28% higher at 81,207.17 points, South Korea’s Kospi 200 had gained 2.7% to 3,549.21 and Japan’s Nikkei 225 was 4.26% higher at 47,717.42.
In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.52% to 3,882.77 points and the CSI 300 had gained 0.45% to 4,640.69 but in Hong Kong the Hang Seng Index dropped 0.54% to 27,140.92
European share markets were mixed on Friday with the UK’s FTSE 100 ending up by 0.7% at 9,491.25 and France’s CAC 40 closing 0.3% higher to 8,081.54 but Germany’s DAX finishing 0.2% lower at 24,378.80.
Gold rose 0.5% to US$3,904.17 per ounce while Brent crude oil dipped 1.5% to US$65.43 per barrel.
