Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Tuesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 leading regional gains as investors cheered a major deal between OpenAI and AMD, which was seen as one of the most direct competitive moves against chipmaking rival Nvidia.
By 11:35 am AEDT (12:35 pm GMT), Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.2%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 1.6%.
Markets in China, Hong Kong, and South Korea remained shut for public holidays.
In Japan, data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs showed that household spending rose at a faster pace than expected in August, increasing 0.6% month-on-month compared with forecasts for a 0.1% rise.
Spending jumped 2.3% year-on-year, marking the fourth consecutive monthly increase and beating the median market forecast for a 1.2% rise.
In Australia, sentiment weakened as the Westpac–Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index fell 3.5% to 92.1 in October from 95.4 in September.
Westpac’s head of Australian macro forecasting Matthew Hassan said: “Consumers appear to have been rattled by recent updates on inflation. ‘Partial’ measures released over the last month suggest annual inflation has lifted back towards the top of the RBA’s 2–3% target range.
"This news, and signs of firmer consumer demand and a pick-up in housing markets, looks to have sparked renewed doubts about the path of interest rates, weighing on near-term expectations for family finances and the economy.”
In the United States, major benchmarks closed mixed on Monday. The S&P 500 rose 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.7%, both setting fresh record highs, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.1%.
Commodity prices advanced, with Brent crude extending its rebound from multimonth lows, adding 1.5% to settle at US$65.47 per barrel.
Spot gold surged 1.9% to a new record high of US$3,960.69 per ounce.
Chinese equity markets will remain closed through the Golden Week holiday and are set to reopen on 8 October.
On Monday, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.7% to 26,957.8, while India’s BSE Sensex gained 0.7% to 81,790.1.
In Europe, markets finished mostly lower. The FTSE 100 slipped 0.1% to 9,479.1, the DAX was little changed at 24,378.3, and the CAC 40 declined 1.4% to 7,971.8.
