Asian Shares Rise Led By Tech Stocks

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks ended higher in thin trade on Monday, with Japanese markets closed for a public holiday.

Investors monitored the latest trade developments after the White House released details of a new trade and economic agreement reached between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea.

According to the fact sheet, Beijing agreed to suspend new export controls on rare earth metals and end investigations into U.S. firms in the semiconductor supply chain.

China's Shanghai Composite index rose 0.55 percent to 3,976.52 despite disappointing PMI data, with a private gauge of China's manufacturing activity dropping to 50.6 in October from 51.2 in September.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 0.97 percent to 26,158.36 after the banking sector's Q3 earnings indicated a stabilization trend.

Seoul stocks soared to a record high, led by sharp gains in big-cap chip and defense shares following the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation gathering last week.

The Kospi average jumped 2.78 percent to 4,221.87, breaching the 4,200 mark for the first time in history.

Shares of Samsung Electronics, the country's biggest company, climbed 3.4 percent and its chipmaking rival SK Hynix soared 10.9 percent, following Nvidia's announcement on Friday to supply up to 260,000 units of artificial intelligence chips to South Korea.

Australian markets ended modestly higher as the Reserve Bank of Australia kicked off its two-day policy meeting amid rising economic complexities.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 edged up by 0.15 percent to 8,894.80 while the broader All Ordinaries index settled little changed with a positive bias at 9,182.50. Lender Westpac rallied 2.8 percent despite reporting a drop in annual profit.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index finished marginally higher at 13,556.30, marking its seventh consecutive gain and closing near a three-week high after a choppy session.

Gold edged higher in Asian trade as the dollar eased from a near three-month high ahead of key ADP employment data and ISM PMI figures due this week.

Friday's nonfarm payrolls report is likely to be delayed due to the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, which is set to drag into sixth week.

Oil prices rose after OPEC+ decided to hold production steady in early 2026, easing supply concerns.

U.S. stocks ended a choppy session mostly higher on Friday as Amazon reported strong quarterly results and Netflix's board approved a ten-for-one stock split.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.6 percent, the S&P 500 rose 0.3 percent and the Dow inched up marginally.