Nikada
Japan +1.64%.
China +1.68%. Rebounded sharply from multi-month lows after China announced new measures over the weekend to boost its capital markets and shore up investor confidence, including halving the stamp duty on stock trading effective today.
China’s central bank Friday announced guidance on relaxing residential housing loans.
Investors shrugged off fresh data showing industrial profits in China fell 15.5% y/y in the first 7 months of the year; and by 6.7% in July alone, which was the 7th straight monthly drop.
Hong Kong +1.38%.
India +0.20%.
Australia +0.55%. Retail sales in Australia increased by 0.5% mom in July 2023, topping market estimates of 0.3% and reversing from a final 0.8% fall in the previous month, preliminary data showed.
Producer prices in Malaysia shrank 2.3% year-on-year in July 2023, following a 4.8% drop in the previous month.
The consumer confidence index in Taiwan declined to 67.51 in August 2023 from July’s 15-month high of 68.39.
In the U.S. on Friday, all three major indexes ended solidly higher as traders weighed the remarks from Fed Chair Powell at the Jackson Hole Summit. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 0.94% to close at 13,590.65 points. The benchmark S&P 500 rose 0.67% to settle at 4,405.72 points, while the blue-chip Dow advanced 0.73% to finish at 34,346.96 points.
On Friday, Powell said that inflation remains “too high” and that the central bank is “prepared to raise rates further if appropriate.”
It will be a very busy week in the United States with investors following closely the labor report, alongside the PCE price index, personal income and spending data, JOLTS job openings, ISM Manufacturing PMI, and the second estimate of Q2 GDP growth. Elsewhere, the focus will be on inflation rate figures for the Euro Area, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland. Additionally, flash manufacturing PMI readings will be released for China, South Korea, India, Russia, Spain, Italy, and Canada.
Oil prices ticked higher on Monday after China moves to support flagging economy. Brent crude rose 22 cents, or 0.3%, to $84.70 a barrel by 0049 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $80.08 a barrel, up 25 cents, or 0.3%.
Currencies: (JPY:USD), (CNY:USD), (AUD:USD), (INR:USD), (HKD:USD), (NZD:USD).
U.S. stock futures rose on Monday to start the final trading week of August: Dow +0.13%; S&P 500 +0.07%; Nasdaq +0.03%.
