While Japanese markets continued to rise after the country's ruling coalition lost its legislative majority, most Asian equities were flat on Tuesday as attention shifted to a flurry of important results that are due in the next few days.
As U.S. equities moved higher amid some optimism that geopolitical tensions in the Middle East won't increase, regional markets dismissed a good lead-in from Wall Street.
With all eyes on the several mega-cap technology results that are due in the next few days, Wall Street futures remained flat during Asian trading.
Among Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei 225 and TOPIX indexes stood out as they maintained their robust advances from the previous day. The largest boost to the TOPIX came from Nippon Paint, which surged up to 24% on the announcement of an agreement to acquire American chemical manufacturer AOC.
The country's ruling coalition, led by the Liberal Democratic Party, lost its parliamentary majority in the general elections held over the weekend, and wider advances in Japanese markets followed a steep decline in the value of the yen.
The future of Japanese politics is uncertain since the LDP will now need to form alliances with minor regional parties in order to maintain its hold on power. However, speculation that the BoJ may not have enough leeway to continue hiking interest rates was sparked by the possibility of political unpredictability.
It is generally anticipated that the BOJ will maintain interest rates at its meeting later this week.
With attention shifting to significant U.S. tech results that are expected in the next few days, other Asian markets stayed inside a narrow range on Tuesday. Microsoft and Meta Platforms will report on Wednesday, while Alphabet, the parent company of Google, will report on Tuesday after the closing of the U.S. market.
On Thursday, Apple and Amazon are scheduled to report.
It is anticipated that the five companies' earnings, which are among the largest equities globally, would serve as a barometer for larger markets.
Numerous significant economic readings are also available on a regional level. Prior to Wednesday's release of third-quarter consumer inflation statistics, Australia's ASX 200 increased by 0.5%.
With purchasing managers index data for October coming on Thursday, China's Shanghai Composite and Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 indices both saw minor declines. After Beijing implemented a number of stimulus measures in the last month, the reading is anticipated to provide more insights into the Chinese economy.
(Sources: investing.com, reuters.com)
