2024-01-29 02:15:04
Chinese stocks led a rally in Asian stocks earlier this week, following regulators took further steps over the weekend to support the market.
Oil climbed following a surge in violence in the Middle East, as a missile attack by Yemen’s Houthi group caused an oil tanker to catch fire in the Red Sea, while three US soldiers were killed in following a drone attack in Jordan.
The dollar and U.S. Treasury yields hovered in the middle of their recent ranges, ahead of the highly anticipated Federal Reserve meeting later this week.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 1.4%, and a subindex of mainland property stocks jumped 3.6% following China’s securities regulator said Sunday it would completely suspend restricted stock loans.
Regional stocks had already started the day on a strong footing, but extended their gains following the Hong Kong open, with Japan’s Nikkei gaining 0.8% and South Korea’s Kospi rising 1.2%, while the Australian stock index rose 0.4%.
Mainland China’s blue chip stocks, however, were little changed following seeing some ups and downs in early trading.
U.S. stock futures fell 0.1% following the S&P 500 lost 0.07% on Friday, ending a five-day streak of all-time high closing highs, although it marked a new intraday record during this session.
The backdrop was the continuation of the
moderation
of consumer inflation in Friday’s data, which reinforced the idea of a Fed interest rate cut in coming months, but also suggested that policymakers were not in a hurry to rush.
Markets expect the Fed to maintain its policy
stable
On Wednesday, markets expect the Fed to maintain its policy, but they will be looking for clues on when the first rate cut will be. Most economists are pricing in June, but traders are weighing the risk of a March decision as if it were a coin toss, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
The U.S. dollar index, which compares the U.S. currency to six other currencies, was content to remain in the middle of its range over the past two weeks, at 103.52, little changed from Friday.
Long-term Treasury yields fell regarding 3 basis points to 4.1316%, putting them near the center of their range since Jan. 18.
Last week’s US data continued the “remarkable run” of not-too-hot, not-too-cold economic indicators, pointing to a soft landing and the start of policy easing in May, Commonwealth strategists wrote Bank of Australia in a customer note.
The chances of a March move should continue to be assessed this week, leading the dollar index to test 104 and bond yields to rise “modestly”, they said.
The dollar was little changed at 148.06 yen on Monday, while the euro was steady at $1.08465 and the pound sterling at $1.27055.
In energy markets, Brent oil futures rose 83 cents to $84.38 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate CLc1 oil rose 78 cents to $78.79 a barrel.
Gold rose 0.23% to $2,023.39.
The bitcoin cryptocurrency rose to $42,165.
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