Tokyo Stock Exchange in Japan.
Noriko Hayashi | Bloomberg via Getty Images
SINGAPORE – Asia-Pacific markets were mostly trading higher on Monday as investors shifted focus to several monetary policy meetings taking place this week.
In Japan, Nikkei 225 The index rose 0.71% to 28,640.49 while the Topix index gained 0.13% to 1,978.13. South Korea Kospi giving up the previous gain and fell 0.28% to 3,001.66. Australian benchmark ASX 200 added 0.35% to 7,379.30.
From Hong Kong Hang Seng Index regained most of its initial gains and was almost flat at 23,997.89. Reuters reported that Chinese artificial intelligence startup SenseTime Group will withdraw its HK$767 million initial public offering after blacklisted US investment.
Mainland China shares also rose: Shanghai composite up 0.4% to 3,681.08 and Shenzhen Ingredients added 0.67% to 15,212.49.
Major benchmarks in India gave up gains and traded lower in the afternoon – Nifty 50 was down 0.51% at 4:05pm HK/SIN and the S&P Sensex lost 0.54%.
Central bank meetings
Several prominent central banks will hold their monetary policy meetings this week, including the US Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan, the Bank of England and the European Central Bank. Europe.
“The Fed’s acceleration of cuts seems warranted as [Federal Open Market Committee] will meet this week,” ANZ Research analysts wrote in an early morning note.
They said they expect the US central bank to reduce monthly bond purchases to $30 billion a month from January from $15 billion currently.
“The Fed’s inflation guidance will be temporarily scrapped, and the new inflation guidance is likely to reflect a clear determination to act as appropriate to bring inflation under control,” the analysts added.
On Friday, the data showed Inflation in the United States increased at the fastest rate since 1982. Investors rejected the report and the market reacted positively to the report.
“The market is clearly bracing for even worse news,” said Ray Attrill, head of forex strategy at National Australia Bank.
Attrill said that the test for markets this week, in addition to various central bank meetings, is whether the latest developments around the new coronavirus strain omicron can “derail risk sentiment.” .
Currency and oil
In the currency market, the US dollar gained 0.17% against a basket of other currencies. The dollar index was 96,261, compared with the previous close of 96,097.
The performance of the dollar will likely be affected by central banks, especially the Fed. Analysts at Commonwealth Bank of Australia said the greenback “could be bullish this week”.
“We expect the FOMC policy announcement and updated projections to reinforce Chairman Powell’s hawkish stance and possibly underpin USD gains. We expect USD to trade in a range. 94.5-97.5 at year-end,” the analysts said in a note Monday.
The Japanese yen changed hands at 113.56 per dollar, weakening from previous levels around 113.25, while Australian dollar down 0.35% to $0.7146.
Oil prices rose on Monday during Asian trading hours. US crude oil Futures contracts traded 1.03% higher at 72.41 USD/barrel while the global benchmark Brent added 0.86% to $75.80.
