Asia shares get tech boost from Apple, crude near two-year high

Asian Stock Markets

Asian shares climbed on Monda, as technology stocks were bolstered by solid earnings from U.S. stalwarts and on strong pre-orders for Apple’s iPhone X, while oil hovered around a 2-year peak on concerns of tightening supplies.

European shares, however, were seen easing from five-month highs. London’s FTSE FFIc1 futures were off 0.4 percent, while S&P E-mini futures ESc1 dipped 0.2 percent, suggesting a softer opening on Wall Street later in the day. 

Apple Inc (AAPL.O) said pre-orders for the 10th anniversary iPhone X, which started on Friday, were “off the charts”, a blessing for Asian suppliers such as South Korea’s LG Display (034220.KS) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (2330.TW). 

Tech stocks were the top gainers in MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS, which was up 0.4 percent. Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) led the charts with a rise of 1.8 percent. 

Energy stocks did well too, with Brent crude LCOc1 at around $60.50 a barrel, its highest since July 2015, after Saudi Arabia agreed to support the extension of a global oil production cut agreement. [O/R] 

Japan's Nikkei .N225 ended little changed but remained around its highest level since mid-1996, having soared 8 percent in October so far. But Chinese shares bucked the trend, with the Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC set for its worst day since Aug. 11.

Global share markets have been on an uptrend since the start of the year, helped by solid corporate earnings and positive economic data across major countries. 

The world share index .MIWD00000PUS has surged 17.6 percent so far in 2017, on track for its best showing since 2013.

In the United States, Alphabet (GOOGL.O) GOOG.L, Amazon (AMZN.O) and Microsoft (MSFT.O) all jumped last week after solid quarterly performances, sending U.S. indexes higher. 

Amazon (AMZN.O) soared 13.2 percent on Friday and was responsible for the biggest boost to the S&P 500 after reporting a quarterly sales surge.