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Asian shares rise after White House confirms plans for Trump-Xi meeting

Published: 24 Oct. 2025, 16:50

A man uses a mobile phone in front of a screen displaying the Nikkei share average inside a financial building in Tokyo on Oct. 20. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Asian shares rose for the most part on Friday after the White House confirmed plans for U.S. President Donald Trump to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping next week.

The confirmation reduced some of the uncertainty surrounding trade tensions between the two biggest economies, though the prospects of a significant trade deal remain unclear.

Chinese benchmarks also gained after the ruling Communist Party wrapped up an important planning meeting without any major policy changes.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 0.6 percent to 26,122.1, while the Shanghai Composite index added 0.4 percent to 3,938.98.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 rebounded Friday from the previous day's losses, adding nearly 1.5 percent to hit 49,380.25. Tech shares were among the gainers as sentiment was boosted by the confirmation of Trump's meeting with Xi.

Data released Friday showed Japan’s core inflation rate rose to 2.9 percent in September from 2.7 percent in August. Despite price pressures, the Bank of Japan is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged at a meeting next week, and newly elected Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has expressed a preference to keep rates low.

In Seoul, the Kospi surged 2.3 percent to 3,935.75, a fresh record, as gains on Wall Street and news of the Trump-Xi summit lifted investor sentiment and eased trade worries.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped less than 0.1 percent to 9,027 after preliminary data showed Australia’s factory activity contracted to 49.7 in October from 51.4 in September.

India's BSE Sensex was nearly unchanged, while Taiwan's stock market was closed for a holiday.

U.S. stocks rose to the cusp of their records on Thursday, as oil prices jumped after Trump announced “massive” new sanctions on Russia’s crude industry.

On Wall Street on Thursday, the S&P 500 climbed 0.6 percent to 6,738.44, within 0.2 percent of its all-time high set earlier this month.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.3 percent to 46,734.61, just below its own record set earlier this week. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.9 percent to 22,941.8.

Companies in the oil and gas business led the way, including gains of 1.1 percent for Exxon Mobil, 3.1 percent for ConocoPhillips and 3.4 percent for Diamondback Energy, on the back of crude prices, which leaped roughly 5.5 percent after Trump announced the sanctions against Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil.

The hope is to convince Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, to end the brutal war with Ukraine, and sanctions could constrict the global flow of oil.

People pass by an electronic signboard showing the closing price of the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong on Oct. 13. [AFP/YONHAP]

The jumps helped oil prices recover some of their recent sharp losses on expectations that supplies of crude inventories would remain plentiful. Oil prices are still down more than 10 percent for the year so far, and early Friday, they slipped further. The U.S. benchmark crude lost 22 cents to reach $61.57 per barrel, while Brent crude was down 21 cents at $65.78.

Strong profit reports from several big U.S. companies helped push benchmarks higher.

Chemicals maker Dow jumped 12.9 percent, and Las Vegas Sands rallied 12.4 percent after both delivered stronger earnings than analysts expected. Tesla shook off an early loss to climb 2.3 percent after reporting a weaker profit but stronger revenue for the latest quarter than analysts projected.

The pressure is on companies broadly to deliver solid growth in profits. That would counter criticism that their stock prices shot too high following a 35 percent romp for the S&P 500 from a low in April.

In other dealings early Friday, the price of gold slipped 0.4 percent to $4,129.30 an ounce. On Thursday, it had climbed 2 percent to $4,145.60 per ounce.

The U.S. dollar rose to 152.96 Japanese yen from 152.60. The euro slid one-100th of a cent to $1.1608 from $1.1618.

AP