Asian markets closed with near-collective gains at the end of trading on Monday, August 18, the opening session of the week, as Japanese indices continued to record new record highs, with no economic figures in the opening session. Investors monitored developments in the Russian-Ukrainian crisis following Putin’s meeting with Trump at the end of last week, and anticipated Trump’s meeting with President Zelensky and European leaders in Washington on Monday.
The summit held at the end of last week between Russian President Putin and US President Trump paved the way for peace, according to Putin’s statements after the meeting, and that an understanding was reached regarding Ukraine. Trump indicated that the meeting achieved significant progress, but no agreement has yet been reached, and that the burden now falls on Russian President Zelensky to build on the Alaska summit and ensure an agreement is reached. In a comment on his Truth Social account before his meeting with the Ukrainian president today, Trump indicated that Zelensky could end the war immediately if he wanted to, or that the fighting could continue, leaving the burden of ending the war between the two sides on Zelensky.
The Nikkei index closed the session at 43,714 points, up 0.77%, or 336 points, marking a new record high for the third session in a week. The Topix index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose today by about 0.43%, closing at 3,120, setting a new record high. Suzuki Motor led the Nikkei gains with gains of more than 10%.
The auto sector led the gains, with shares of Nissan, Honda, Mazda, Toyota, and Mitsubishi rising by more than 1.5%, supported by renewed optimism from Japanese companies and assessments of the impact of tariffs. Chinese indices recorded gains today, with the broader Chinese CSI300 index rising by approximately 0.88% to close at 4,239 points, while the Shanghai Composite Index closed 0.85% higher at 3,728 points.
The Hang Seng Index, the main index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, rose by approximately 0.03% to close at 25,276 points, led by gains in JD Health International, which rose by more than 8%.
Conversely, the South Korean Kospi index fell by approximately 1.50% in today’s session, closing at 3,177 points.
India’s Sensex index rose by approximately 1.08% before closing at 81,456 points, while the Nifty 50 index rose by approximately 1.29% to trade at 24,949 points. New Zealand stock markets closed with gains today, with the NZX50 index rising by 0.63% to close at 12,970 points, while Australia’s ASX200 index rose by 0.23% to close at 8,959 points. Singapore’s main index fell by 0.89% in pre-closing trading, as Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports contracted by 4.6% year-on-year in July, exceeding expectations.