Asian Shares Rise Ahead Of Chinese Stimulus Meeting

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks rose in thin trade on Monday, with Japanese markets closed for Culture Day holiday.

Regional gains were impressive despite persisting Middle East tensions and anxiety ahead of this week's U.S. presidential election and the Federal Reserve's interest-rate decision.

The dollar slipped as weaker than expected U.S. jobs data pointed a cooling labor market.

Gold edged up as Iran and Azerbaijan began two days of joint naval exercises in the Caspian Sea.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has vowed that Israel and the U.S. would face a "teeth-breaking response" for their actions against the country.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Iran is planning a complex attack on Israel, which may include missiles with high-powered warheads.

Both WTI and Brent crude contracts jumped around 2 percent in Asian trade after OPEC+ agreed to push back its December production increase by one month.

China's Shanghai Composite index rallied 1.17 percent to 3,310.21 as investors looked ahead to a meeting of China's National People's Congress that is expected to unveil a new fiscal stimulus package focused on stabilizing the economy through local government debt swaps and injections of capital into banks.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index edged up by 0.30 percent to 20,567.52 on hopes for fresh policy measures from Beijing to boost consumer consumption.

Seoul stocks logged strong gains after the country's opposition Democratic Party leader agreed to support the government's move to scrap a scheme to tax profits on stock investments. The Kospi average jumped 1.83 percent to close at 2,588.97.

Chipmaker Samsung Electronics rose 0.7 percent while peer SK Hynix surged 6.5 percent and battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 3.3 percent.

Australian markets advanced, led by banks and healthcare stocks ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia's upcoming policy meeting.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.56 percent to 8,164.60 while the broader All Ordinaries index settled 0.51 percent higher at 8,422.80.

Westpac gained 0.9 percent as the banking major increased its share buyback program by an additional A$1 billion.

Mineral Resources plummeted 9.6 percent on news that managing director Chris Ellison will step down after the board found he used the company's resources for his personal benefits.

Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index edged up by 0.25 percent to 12,590.60.

U.S. stocks ended firmly in positive territory on Friday as upbeat earnings news from Amazon and Intel helped investors look past a disappointing jobs report.

Data showed the U.S. economy added just 12,000 jobs in October, marking the weakest level of jobs creation since December 2020 after a downwardly revised 223,000 jobs in September, impacted by hurricanes and labor strikes. The jobless rate held at 4.1 percent, in line with estimates.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 0.8 percent, the Dow gained 0.7 percent and the S&P 500 added 0.4 percent.