Major Asian indicators increased to an average of 3.1%. The Japanese Nikkei 225 index gained only 0.28%. The other indices showed better results. The Shanghai Composite index added 1.42%, the Shenzhen Composite index increased by 1.46%, the Australian S&P/ASX 200 index soared by 1.65%, and the Korean KOSPI surged by 1.79%. The Hong Kong Hang Seng index showed the largest increase of 4.1%.
Strong results of the companies' financial statements for the third quarter are one of the main reasons for the positive investor sentiment.
Investors are waiting for the results of the next Fed meeting, which will be held today and tomorrow. Most experts predict that the regulator will increase the interest rate by 0.75%. If that happens, the discount rate will amount to 3.75-4%.
However, investors are more interested in the Fed meeting scheduled for December. At the moment, about half of experts forecast a rate hike to 4.25-4.5%, and the other half predicts an increase to 4.5-4.75%.
The Reserve Bank of Australia decided to increase the interest rate by 25 basis points, to 2.85%. Notably, this is the seventh rate hike in a row. The rate reached a record high in the last nine years. In addition, the central regulator considers it possible to continue to increase the rate to combat rising inflation, if necessary.
The main Australian index was boosted by the increase in quotes of the country's largest companies. BHP rose by 2.8% and Rio Tinto increased by 2.6%. Slightly smaller increases were demonstrated by ANZ Bank, which rose by 1.6%, Commonwealth Bank, which rose by 1.3%, as well as Westpac Banking and National Australia Bank, which gained 0.9% each.
Among the Japanese Nikkei 225 index companies, Japan Tobacco gained 9.1%, NTN added 6.4%, and Panasonic soared 6%. Slightly smaller growth was demonstrated by SoftBank Group shares, which surged by 3.3%, as well as Sony Group and Fast Retailing, which showed gains of 0.7% and 0.1% respectively.
At the same time, Toyota Motor fell by 2.2% due to the fact that the net profit of the company decreased by 31% and was worse than market expectations.
Among the companies traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, China Resources Beer gained 9.2%, Meituan added 8.9%, Sino Biopharmaceutical increased by 8.4%, and Sunny Optical Technology Group soared by 8.2%.
The shares of Tencent Holdings, Ltd. also rose by 7.2%, Alibaba Group added 5.3%, and JD.com, Inc. gained 5.1%.
AIA Group, Ltd. increased by 5.9% in the first nine months of this year, thanks to a 1% increase in the value of the new business.
The companies included in the Korean KOSPI do not show the same level of gains. Samsung Electronics increased by 0.7%, while the price of Hyundai Motor decreased by 0.6%.
