Rate decision RBA, PMI services, currency, oil
SINGAPORE – Shares in Asia-Pacific opened higher as investors weighed the Reserve Bank of Australia’s rate decision.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan rose 0.92%, while the Topix index gained 0.59%.
Korea Kospi up 0.52% and Kosdaq up 0.94%.
In Australia, S&P / ASX 200 slightly higher.
The Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to raise interest rates by 50 basis points later today, a Reuters poll predicts. And retail sales data is also expected today.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.17%.
Elsewhere in the region, South Korean data released on Tuesday showed the consumer price index in June rose 6% year-on-year. This was slightly higher than the 5.9% increase expected and the fastest annual increase since November 1998, according to Reuters.
Japan and China will release Purchasing Managers’ Index reading services on Tuesday.
According to company news, a group of lawmakers in the UK are reportedly calling for a ban on Chinese CCTV manufacturers. Hikvision and Dahua about links that are alleged to be human rights violations.
US markets were closed overnight for a holiday.
Currency and oil
The US Dollar Indextracks the greenback against its basket of currencies, at 105,115.
The Japanese yen was trading at 135.87 per dollar, after briefly weakening to 137 against the greenback last week. The Australian dollar at $0.6872, after recovering from levels below $0.679.
US crude oil Futures rose 1.51% in Asian morning trade to $110.07 a barrel, while Brent Crude Oil Futures prices fell 0.23% to $113.24 per barrel.