Asian stock markets follow G7 summit

Asian stock markets followed the G-7 meeting, with Japanese stocks rising to their highest since 1990. Asia-Pacific markets were broadly higher after two of Wall Street’s three main indexes hit record highs on Thursday night and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he was confident a deal on the U.S. debt ceiling could be reached by next week. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite jumped on Thursday to their highest closing levels since August 2022. G-7 leaders are set to meet in Hiroshima, Japan, for the G-7 summit, which begins today. Japanese stocks were on track for their best week since October, with the Nikkei 225 up 0.86% to hold on to its highest levels since 1990 and the Topix adding 0.33% for a sixth straight win. Japan’s core inflation rose 3.4% on an annual basis in April, staying above the central bank’s target. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.43 percent, South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.56 percent and the Kosdaq rose 0.27 percent. Meanwhile, major Chinese markets bucked the trend: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 1.49 percent and in mainland China, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.44 percent. The Shenzhen Component Index was marginally lower. Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes rose for a second straight day, with the Nasdaq rising 1.51 percent to hit a 52-week high, while the S&P rose 0.94 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.34 percent.