Asian stocks headed for seventh straight monthly gain

Photo caption — Stock index board in Tokyo, Japan. Photo: Kyodo/TTXVN

Accordingly, the MSCI stock index of the Asia- Pacific region (excluding Japan) increased 0.2% on the morning of October 31. The index is on track to record a gain of 1.8% for the week and 4.7% for the month of October.

The focus of Asian markets was on Japanese stocks, where the Nikkei-225 index rose more than 2% to 52,391.45 points on the morning of October 31, marking its first time breaking the 52,000-point mark. The index extended its gains as semiconductor and artificial intelligence (AI)-related companies benefited from the upbeat business results of two US technology giants, Amazon.com Inc. and Apple Inc. Overall, the Nikkei-225 has risen 15.5% since the beginning of the month.

China's stock market lost steam again after disappointing factory activity data for October weighed on sentiment. The Shanghai Composite Index in Shanghai opened down 0.05% at 3,985.06 points. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index also fell 0.07% to 26,263.01 points.

South Korean stocks also opened lower, following a decline in major US tech stocks last night. Seoul's KOSPI index fell 8.65 points, or 0.21 percent, to 4,078.24 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on October 30 resulted in the US reducing tariffs on Chinese goods in exchange for the country resuming purchases of US soybeans and resuming rare earth exports. However, the market reaction was muted as the meeting was seen as a temporary truce rather than a real reset in bilateral relations.

In the domestic market, at 9:40 a.m. on October 31, the VN-Index decreased by 4.13 points (0.25%) to 1,665.44 points. The HNX-Index increased by 0.96 points (0.36%) to 267.92 points.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/kinh-te/chung-khoan-chau-a-huong-den-thang-tang-thu-bay-lien-tiep-20251031095902292.htm