Nikada
It has been an eventful day of trading in Asia-Pacific markets. In Japan (NKY:IND), stocks dipped marginally at -0.04%, while data released showed December core machinery orders rose by 2.7% month-over-month, exceeding the expected 2.5%.
The Chinese markets (SHCOMP) surged by +1.55% today as investors awaited the February fixing of loan prime rates, following the People’s Bank of China’s decision to maintain its one-year medium-term lending facility rate at 2.5% on Sunday. The positive sentiment in the market was further fueled by data indicating consumer spending in China has surpassed pre-Covid levels.
However, China’s current account surplus saw a sharp decrease to USD 55.2 billion in Q4 of 2023 from USD 103.1 billion in the same period the previous year, according to a preliminary estimate.
Meanwhile, in other parts of Asia, Hong Kong (HSI) experienced a decline of -0.74%, while India (SENSEX) and Australia (AS51) observed gains of +0.39% and +0.09% respectively.
Looking beyond Asia, in the U.S. on Friday, all three major indexes ended in red, thus breaking their five-week winning streak. Traders exhibited a sense of caution following US producer prices data, which sparked fears that the Federal Reserve may delay interest rate cuts from what was previously anticipated.
Notably, the U.S. markets remained closed on Monday for the Presidents’ Day holiday.
Currencies: (JPY:USD), (CNY:USD), (AUD:USD), (INR:USD), (HKD:USD), (NZD:USD).
Insights into the Asian Markets
