Asia stocks jump on gains in cyclical sectors, US optimism

Investing.com– Most Asian stocks rose on Monday as investors piled into cyclical stocks heading into the last week of November, while focus turned to a slew of upcoming economic readings,  including China’s industrial data and India’s third-quarter GDP.

Sentiment was also buoyed by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of prominent investor Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary, with Bessent seen holding a much more moderate view on trade tariffs.

Regional markets tracked Friday’s gains on Wall Street, where demand for economically sensitive sectors saw the close at a new high, and mark its fifth winning day in a row.

U.S. stock index futures rose in Asian trade, tracking optimism over Bessent’s appointment. Bond yields also fell after his appointment, lending stocks more space to rise. 

Investors shrugged off risk worries induced by heightened tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Moscow launched an advanced hypersonic missile on a Ukrainian facility last week and threatened nuclear retaliation for Kyiv’s use of Western-made, long-range missiles.

Japan’s index added 1.2%, while the rose 1%. Both indexes logged weekly losses last week.

South Korea’s rose 1.4%, while Indonesian shares, specifically the jumped 1.7%.

Bucking the trend, China’s and indexes were down 0.6% and 0.4%, respectively. Hong Kong’s index shed 0.4%.

for India’s index pointed to strong open. Reuters reported that Adani dollar bond prices fell to almost one-year lows on Monday as investors cut their exposure to the Indian conglomerate in the wake of bribery and fraud allegations from U.S. authorities.

Econ. data barrage on tap this week

Singapore is scheduled to release its for October later in the day. Economists polled by Reuters expect the headline inflation rate of 1.8%, down from the 2% in the previous month.

South Korea central bank’s is due on Wednesday, while from Japan’s capital city of Tokyo will be released on Friday. 

India is set to release it report on Friday, while China will release its purchasing managers index data on Saturday. Before that, data from China is due

In the U.S., the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation, the (PCE) price index to be released on November 27.

Australian shares hit record high

Australia’s hit an all-time-high of 8452.1 points with a 0.7% rise on Monday, helped by gains the cyclical sector.

In corporate news, Australia’s largest vehicle fleet management and leasing group SG Fleet Group Ltd (ASX:) jumped as much as 24% after it confirmed that it is in discussions regarding a A$1.2 billion ($785 million) buyout offer from private equity group Pacific Equity Partners (PEP)

Australian for October are also scheduled to be out on Wednesday.