Asia markets track Wall Street gains as investors look past U.S. shutdown

Asia-Pacific markets mostly rose on Friday, following Wall Street’s strong close as investors looked past the U.S. government shutdown.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.11%, lifted by nearly 8% jump in Hitachi after the company announced a global AI infrastructure partnership with OpenAI. The broader Topix index advanced 1.01%. However, data showed Japan’s unemployment rate edged higher to 2.6% in August, while its services PMI climbed to 53.3, signaling domestic strength but weaker exports.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.27%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 0.47% and the Hang Seng Tech Index fell 1.21%. Chinese and South Korean markets were closed for holidays.

U.S. equity futures were steady in Asian trading after all three major U.S. indexes finished at record highs overnight. The S&P 500 added 0.06%, the Dow Jones gained 78 points, and the Nasdaq rose 0.4%, with Nvidia hitting a record high alongside strong gains in Intel and AMD.

While the U.S. shutdown has suspended the release of key data such as September’s nonfarm payrolls, analysts noted that previous shutdowns have rarely caused long-term disruptions to financial markets. Investors remain focused on how the situation may influence Federal Reserve policy ahead of its October meeting.