[ad_1]
BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets were mixed on Monday after Wall Street’s decline last week, amid concerns that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates as early as March.
US equities also pointed to a mixed start to the week as Dow futures continued to come under modest pressure, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite looked increasingly likely to overcome early declines.
Shanghai and Hong Kong made progress. Seoul and Sydney refused. Japanese markets NIY00,
were closed for holidays.
Investors were upset last week after notes from the latest Fed meeting revealed that officials believed the US job market is healthy enough that it may no longer need ultra-low interest rates and other stimulus measures.
That was bolstered by US employment figures showing stronger-than-expected wages on Friday, albeit with only about half as many employees as forecast.
The prospect of past rate hikes “suggests that markets are still plagued by volatility,” Mizuho Bank’s Tan Boon Heng said in a report.
The Shanghai Composite Index SHCOMP,
rose 0.2% to 3,587.69 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong HSI,
advanced 0.9% to 23,702.90. The Kospi in Seoul 180721,
fell 1.2% to 2,919.46 and the S&P ASX 200 XAO in Sydney,
lost 0.1% to 7,444.70.
Investors were cautious after Fed officials said in December plans to roll back ultra-low rates and other economic incentives that have pushed stock prices could accelerate to cool U.S. inflation now at a four-decade high. .
To see: Traders, undeterred by crappy job growth in December, continue to price in Federal Reserve ‘earlier and faster’ tightening
On Friday, Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index SPX,
fell 0.4% to 4,677.03, or about 2.5% below the January 3 record high.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA,
fell by less than 0.1% to 36,231.66. The Nasdaq Composite COMP,
decreased by 1% to 14,935.90.
Investors estimate a greater than 79% chance that the Fed will raise short-term interest rates in March. A month ago, according to CME Group, they saw less than a 39% chance of this.
Record-low interest rates have helped share prices rise despite turmoil over the coronavirus pandemic.
The Fed has already slowed down purchases of bonds that pumped money into the financial system to lower commercial credit rates. Notes from the December meeting indicated that Fed officials may be halting such purchases sooner than previously planned.
In energy markets, benchmark US crude CL00,
rose 17 cents to $79.07 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 56 cents to $78.90 on Friday. Brent raw BRN00,
used to price international oils added 20 cents to $81.95 a barrel in London. It lost 24 cents the previous session to $81.75.
The dollar USDJPY,
rose to 115.79 yen from Friday’s 115.56 yen. The euro EURUSD,
fell to $1.1337 from $1.1362.
|
Sources 2/ https://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-stocks-mixed-in-kickoff-to-new-week-of-trading-01641792384 The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article |
[ad_2]