Comments
Stocks in Asia kicked off the week in a mixed fashion as holiday closures crimped volume and traders weighed the ongoing trade-war tensions. The yen advanced and Treasury futures were steady.
Equities in Hong Kong, China and South Korea advanced, while they were little changed in Sydney and Taipei. Futures on the S&P 500 Index edged higher after U.S. stocks lost ground on Friday. The yen nudged up, extending moves seen at the end of last week as U.S. President Donald Trump said that planned trade talks with China could be called off. The yuan edged higher as China’s central bank fixing continued to signal its determination to manage an orderly currency depreciation.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Excluding Japan Index rose 0.1% at 11:08 a.m. in Hong Kong. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index was steady. South Korea’s Kospi index added 0.5%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 0.2%.
The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.7%. Futures on the S&P 500 added 0.3%. The underlying gauge dropped 0.7% on Friday.
The yen rose 0.2% to 105.47 per dollar. The offshore yuan added 0.1% to 7.0914 per dollar
A volatile start to August for global markets has seen bond traders lift expectations for central-bank easing. The People’s Bank of China late Friday called for a rational view on current headwinds, and former central bankers warned that the confrontation with the U.S. is deepening. Trump said Friday that it would be fine if U.S.-China negotiations planned for next month were called off, adding that hes not ready to make a deal.
Markets are shut on Monday in Japan, Singapore, India, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand.
We remain cautious, as we believe that a number of challenges remain, said Andrew Sheets, chief cross asset strategist at Morgan Stanley in London. Among them, the risk that high policy expectations make disappointment more likely, and that even if those aggressive expectations are met, easing isnt expected to improve growth or inflation materially.
Elsewhere, the won extended losses as data signalled exports are set to drop for a ninth straight month in August as the impact of the U.S.-China trade spat spreads.
Here are some key events coming up: Companies releasing results include Barrick Gold, Chinas Tencent, JD.com and Alibaba, Cisco, Brazilian utility Eletrobras, Prudential, Australias Telstra, giant retailer Walmart, Nvidia, Swisscom and the Danish brewer Carlsberg.
The U.S. consumer price index, out Tuesday, probably picked up to a 1.7% annual pace in July, according to economist estimates. Core prices, which exclude food and energy, are seen rising 2.1%, about in line with most readings this year.
China retail sales, industrial production and the jobless rate to be released on Wednesday.. U.S. jobless claims, industrial production and retail sales data would be released on Thursday. Australia jobs data is out on Thursday. These are the main moves in markets:
The MSCI Asia Pacific Excluding Japan Index rose 0.1% at 11:08 a.m. in Hong Kong. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index was steady. South Koreas Kospi index added 0.5%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 0.2%.
The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.7%. Futures on the S&P 500 added 0.3%. The underlying gauge dropped 0.7% on Friday.
The yen rose 0.2% to 105.47 per dollar. The offshore yuan added 0.1% to 7.0914 per dollar.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.