Australia's Market Hits Record High; Japan's Business Optimism Grows

Last Wednesday, the Japanese yen experienced volatility, weakening to 161.82 before rebounding to 157.41 the following day. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index saw a slight decline of 0.43%, closing at 41,097.69, while the Topix index managed a modest gain of 0.37%, finishing at 2,915.21. Notably, gold mining stocks performed well, with Northern Star Resources and Bellevue Gold rising over 3% and nearly 2%, respectively, alongside Evolution Mining and Newmont Corporation, which both climbed more than 2%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index recorded a slight increase of 0.15% during its final trading hour, while China's CSI 300 index rose marginally to close at 3,501.58. Conversely, the Taiwan Weighted Index fell by 0.77%, influenced by comments from U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who suggested that Taiwan should financially contribute to its defense. Taiwan's Premier Cho Jung-tai responded, emphasizing the island's commitment to increasing its defense spending. In corporate news, shares of Taiwanese semiconductor giant TSMC dropped as much as 2.36% following the announcement that CFO Elhedery would succeed Noel Quinn as CEO. Meanwhile, in Singapore, non-oil domestic exports fell more than anticipated in June, marking the fifth consecutive month of decline, with an 8.7% year-on-year drop compared to the expected 1.2%. Month-on-month, exports unexpectedly decreased by 0.4%, diverging from forecasts of a 4.1% growth.