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Informist, Monday, Oct. 20, 2025                                      Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

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Equity Alert: Most Asian mkts up as US-China trade worries ease; Nikkei up 3%

MUMBAI--0825 IST--Most indices in Asia were higher in early trade Monday as signs of easing trade tensions between the US and China improved investors' sentiment. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed a meeting with China's Vice Premier He Lifeng in Malaysia later this week after a call with the Chinese official Friday. The two officials "engaged in frank and detailed discussions regarding trade between the United States and China," Bessent said on X. The Japanese equity market reached a record high due to stabilising political situation in the country.

 

Scott Bessent's comments came after US President Donald Trump said his 100% tariff plans on China were unsustainable and expressed optimism that talks with Chinese officials may lead to an agreement to defuse the crisis. "The markets are pricing in that things will de-escalate... however, the markets are likely to remain jittery until such backdowns are explicitly announced" Kyle Rodda, a senior market analyst at Capital.com was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.

 

China's CSI 300 index was 1% higher amid a slew of economic data from the country. China's Jul-Sept GDP grew 4.8%, in line with Reuter's poll. The figure showed a slowdown from the the June quarter's 5.2% growth. The People's Bank of China kept its benchmark lending rates unchanged, in line with expectations, with the one-year loan prime rate at 3%. 

 

Traders await further data from the country to get a broader picture of economic health of the world's second-largest economy. They also wait for reports from the four-day plenary session through Thursday, where top policy makers in China, including President Xi Jinping, will review and approve the drafted suggestions for the upcoming five-year plan till 2030.

 

Japan's Nikkei 225 reached a record intraday high and rose nearly 3%. Sentiment was bullish following the news that the Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Innovation Party have agreed to form a coalition government. Sanae Takaichi, who would be the country's first female prime ,inister, is expected to be pro-stimulus and against further hikes in interest rates. The broader Topix index was 2% higher.

 

Following were the levels of key Asian indices at 0810 IST: 

 

Index	Level	Change in %
CSI 300 Index	4552.40	0.85
Hang Seng Index	25816.59	2.26
Nikkei 225 Day	48929.38	2.83
TOPIX FIRST SECTION	3233.22	1.98
KOSPI	3789.83	1.09
FTSE Singapore Strait Times	4328.93	(-)0.63
S&P/ASX 200 Index	8995.90	0.01

 

(Eshitva Prakash)

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Equity Alert: Indices seen further up ahead of Diwali; earnings in focus

 

MUMBAI--0809 IST--Benchmark indices are likely to continue their positive momentum Monday and will look to extend their winning run to the fourth session ahead of Diwali, analysts said. Many stocks, including heavyweights Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank, will react to their September quarter earnings announced Friday and Saturday.

 

"Given the current setup of strong price action supported by momentum indicators, Nifty 50 appears well-poised to advance toward the mentioned resistance zones (26000 points) in the near term," Rajesh Bhosale, equity technical analyst at Angel One, said in a note. 

 

The October contract of the GIFT Nifty also indicates a positive start for the market. At 0803 IST, the contract was at 25984.50 points, up 275 points from the Nifty 50's previous close. Friday, the Nifty 50 had closed 0.5% higher at 25709.85 points, a level last seen on Oct. 1, 2024. The BSE Sensex closed at 83952.19 points, up 484.53 points or 0.6%.

 

Friday, indices in the US had ended higher as President Donald Trump said his face-to-face trade talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping were still on. Most indices in Asia were higher in early trade Monday.  (Akash Mandal)

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Equity Alert: US mkt up Fri led by bank stocks; US-China trade concerns ease

 

MUMBAI--0756 IST--Stock indices in the US ended higher Friday after President Donald Trump said his proposed plan of 100% tariff on Chinese goods would not be sustainable. Shares of regional banks, which had led the US market decline on Thursday, gained on Friday as traders bet that any bad credit bets by banks were a one-off event and not part of a bigger crisis. 

 

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Friday said he expects to meet Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Malaysia later this week to try forestalling an increase in US tariffs on Chinese goods, which would be effective Nov. 1. Trump said the 100% tariff on goods from China he had threatened in response to the latter tightening its rare-earth export rules would not be sustainable. The US president, however, blamed Beijing for the impasse in trade talks.

 

"We've seen this movie before... a week ago, US President Trump was talking 100% tariffs and the market had its worst sell-off in months and now today he's clearly putting some water on that fire, saying he and President Xi have a good relationship," Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist, Carson Group, Omaha, was quoted by Reuters as saying.

 

US' regional banking stocks rebounded Friday after a sell-off in the previous session when Zions Bancorporation disclosed unexpected losses tied to two commercial and industrial loans and Western Alliance had said it initiated a lawsuit alleging fraud by Cantor Group. Shares of Zions Bancorp climbed almost 6% Friday after receiving an upgrade from Baird, which said the drop in market value for the regional bank was out of proportion to the size of loan losses it was potentially facing, according to a CNBC report. Investment bank Jefferies, which had also closed lower in Thursday's sell-off, ended 6% higher after Oppenheimer and Co. raised its rating on the stock to 'outperform'. 

 
"We don't think there are systemic credit problems for banks – most of what we're seeing so far is a function of a few specific situations (First Brands and TriColor) while credit quality broadly, if anything is tracking better than anticipated," Adam Crisafulli of Vital Knowledge was quoted by CNBC as saying. Strong earnings reports by JPMorgan and other big banks kickstarted the earnings season on a positive note.

 

Shares of Truist Financial Corp. were up almost 4?ter the bank reported its financial results. Fifth Third Bancorp's stock rose over 1%. On the other hand, shares of State Street dropped more than 1?ter the bank's net interest income for the latest quarter missed estimates. Shares of drugmaker Eli Lilly ended 2% lower after President Trump said he would bring down prices of weight-loss drugs.

 

Following are the closing levels of US indices Friday:

 

Index	Level	Change in %
S&P 500	6664.01	0.53
NASDAQ Composite	22679.98	0.52
Dow Jones Industrial Average	46190.61	0.52

 

(Eshitva Prakash)

 

End

 

US$1 = INR 87.98

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Vandana Hingorani

 

All prices from National Stock Exchange, unless otherwise specified.

All percentage changes for share prices are rounded off to the nearest whole number; percentage changes for index values are rounded off to one decimal place.

All times are Indian Standard Time.

 

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