U.S. equities continue to regain stability, while some market participants are looking to assess the outcome of the midterm elections. Overseas investors’ buying of Japanese equities has reached a high level, but caution is also spreading. The main developments covered in the article are outlined below.
The U.S. equity market moved narrowly toward the end of October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.06% on 19 October, as some semiconductor and AI-related stocks came under selling pressure, but rose by more than 1% on 20 October and approximately 0.7% on 21 October, maintaining its recovery trend. As the market remains susceptible to movements in technology stocks, earnings announcements, oil prices and concerns over AI investment have been cited as factors influencing market direction. On the timeline, positive sentiment toward SpaceX’s earnings, rebounds in some AI-related stocks and movements in stocks such as Netflix affected market sentiment.
The Japanese market responded to developments in the U.S. and Japan, while the report states that overseas investors’ buying of Japanese equities has reached a record level. At the same time, selling pressure on AI and semiconductor stocks intensified at points, and the Nikkei 225 fell sharply to ¥64,916 on 19 October and ¥64,075 on 20 October before rebounding to close at ¥64,621 on 21 October. Trading value on the TSE Prime Market remained high. INPEX, BayCurrent and SHIFT were among the stocks bought, while Mercari and Takashimaya were weak.
The Chinese market showed signs of recovery, although caution over medium- to long-term policy developments remained. The Shanghai Composite repeatedly posted modest gains and losses on 19 and 20 October, as expectations of policy support spread following an upside surprise in GDP growth, the decision to leave the LPR unchanged and the opening of the Financial Street Forum. Automobiles and shipping-related stocks were bought, while hotels, real estate and entertainment stocks were sold. Caution strengthened on 21 October, and market direction was influenced by the market reaction following earnings announcements from CATL and China Mobile.