Asian Shares Rise As Alaska Talks Show Progress

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks rose broadly on Monday as investors reacted to ongoing U.S.-Russia talks on Ukraine and looked ahead to upcoming Federal Reserve Jerome Powell's Jackson Hole speech for clues on whether the U.S. central bank will cut interest rates next month. The summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Putin in Alaska yielded no concrete agreements, but Russia agreed to "game-changing" security guarantees for Ukraine, helping inject new momentum into stalled efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

The leaders of the U.K., France and Germany will accompany Ukraine's president for crunch talks with Trump at the White House today in a bid to come to a negotiated settlement in the three-and-a-half-year-old conflict.

China's Shanghai Composite index jumped 0.85 percent to 3,728.03, rallying to a 10-year high on strong institutional and retail buying amid hopes that a swift resolution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict will help remove U.S. scrutiny of Beijing's purchases of Russian oil.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended down 0.37 percent at 25,176.85, reversing early gains as property and technology stocks lagged ahead of this week's loan prime rate decision by China's central bank.

Japanese markets hit a new record high ahead of inflation data due this week that could provide further guidance on whether the Bank of Japan will hike rates again this year.

The Nikkei average climbed 0.77 percent to 43,714.31 after the government said the U.S. is not pressuring the Bank of Japan for rate hikes.

The broader Topix index settled 0.43 percent higher at 3,120.96. A weaker yen lifted auto stocks, with Honda, Toyota and Nissan rising 2-3 percent.

Fast Retailing, the operator of fashion giant Uniqlo, rose 1.3 percent, and chip-testing equipment maker Advantest added 1.5 percent.

Seoul stocks fell sharply amid uncertainties over Trump's potential tariff measures on semiconductors. The Kospi average ended down 1.50 percent at 3,177.28, snapping a two-day winning streak. Tech heavyweight Samsung Electronics fell 2.2 percent and peer SK Hynix lost 3.3 percent.

Australian markets eked out modest gains, with the potential upside capped by losses in heavyweight mining and energy stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 ended up 0.23 percent at 8,959.30 after hitting a record high last week. The broader All Ordinaries index closed up 0.23 percent at 9,233.50.

National Australia Bank rallied 2.7 percent despite the lender flagging higher annual operating costs due to continued payroll problems. Commonwealth Bank of Australia rose 1.2 percent and Westpac gained 0.7 percent.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index rose 0.63 percent to 12,970.64 on improved services sector activity data for July.

Gold prices climbed in Asian trading as the dollar dithered on dovish Fed expectations. Oil prices were little changed as the Alaska summit ended without any geopolitical escalation, easing concerns of supply disruption.

U.S. stocks ended mostly lower on Friday after a strong week. The S&P 500 eased 0.3 percent but logged its second weekly gain. The Dow inched up marginally as retail sales demonstrated resilience in July.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 0.4 percent on the back of a decline in chip stocks and weak consumer sentiment data, primarily driven by increasing concerns about inflation on lingering anxiety about the impact of tariffs.