Asian stocks inched higher on Tuesday, as Japanese equities rose after investors reacted to the emphatic election result that ushered in the country’s first female prime minister. Hong Kong’s HSI jumped 120 points or 0.45% to reach 27,147. South Korea’s Kospi also traded in green, up 5 points to 5,303 at 9:30 am IST. Nikkei also rose, reaching 57,677, up 1,313 or 2.33%. The move came after the index had already leapt 3.9% on Monday to reach a fresh record close, in the immediate aftermath of Sanae Takaichi’s party securing a landslide in the parliamentary vote. Market participants are optimistic that her leadership will bring reforms viewed as favourable for growth and for share prices. Across the Pacific, US stocks had just wrapped up their strongest session since May at the end of last week. Yet caution has not disappeared, with some investors arguing valuations look stretched after markets’ run towards record highs. On Monday, the S&P 500 added 0.5% to 6,964.82, bringing it closer to the peak reached two weeks earlier. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed, inching up by less than 0.1% to 50,135.87. The Nasdaq composite outperformed with a rise of 0.9% to 23,238.67.Meanwhile, there are concerns about the heavy outlays being made by large technology firms and others in the race to develop artificial-intelligence capabilities, and whether those investments will translate into profits big enough to justify the spending. The figures could alter assumptions about the Federal Reserve’s path for interest rates. Policymakers have paused their rate reductions for now. Precious metals continued to swing. Gold gained 2% to finish at $5,079.40 per ounce. After almost doubling over the past 12 months, it has been moving sharply, fluctuating between $4,500 and nearly $5,600. Silver, which has proved even more volatile, surged 6.9% on Monday. In cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin traded just shy of $71,000. It had briefly moved above that level during the weekend but had slumped towards $60,000 last week, leaving it more than halfway below the all-time high recorded in October. Oil prices were little changed early Tuesday. US crude slipped by 4 cents to $64.32 a barrel, while Brent crude edged down 2 cents to $69.02. On currency markets, the dollar dipped to 155.75 yen from 155.83 yen. The euro also weakened slightly, buying $1.1909 compared with $1.1916 previously.
