Central Bank Outlooks, Politics Lift Asian Stock Markets

06:45 AM EDT, 09/08/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets tracked moderately higher Monday on the outlook for a rate cut from the Federal Reserve after soft US job-market reports last week, and a pending change in political leadership in Tokyo.

Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo finished in the green, as did most other regional exchanges.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened higher and held ground, finishing up 1.5% after Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, on Sunday, said he would resign, possibly opening the door to a more-expansionist national fiscal policy.

A softer yen aided export issues.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 625.06 to 43,643.81, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 197 to 26.

Leading the upside was semiconductor-manufacturing equipment maker Socionext, gaining 8%, while factory-automation outfit Keyence fell 1.4%.

In economic news, boosted by consumer spending, Japan's gross domestic product grew at a seasonally adjusted 2.2% annual rate in the April-June period, instead of the 1% rate previously estimated, reported the Cabinet Office.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened higher and rose to the close, finishing up 0.9% as traders weighed possibly easing by major global central banks, and a somewhat resilient China trade report from Beijing.

The broad gauge Hang Seng rose 215.93 to 25,633.91, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 58 to 23. The Hang Seng TECH Index gained 1.2% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index rose 1.9%.

Leading the upside was search-engine giant Baidu, gaining 9.5%, while toy-company Pop Mart International declined 7.1%.

Index heavyweight and e-commerce colossus Alibaba rose 4.2% after reporting it has released a new and more powerful AI model.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.4% to 3,826.84.

In economic news, mainland China exports rose by 4.4% year on year in August, while imports gained by 1.3%, reported the Customs Administration.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 0.5%; the Taiwan TWSE inclined 0.2%; the Australian ASX 200 declined 0.2%; the Singapore Straits Times Index was steady, and the Thai Set inclined 0.1%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was up 0.1%.

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