Asia markets advance taking cues from strong lead on Wall Street; eyes on U.S., China infl

April 8, 2024 Editorial Staff 115 Views

Nikada

Japan (NKY:IND) +0.91%. The gauge for Japan’s service sector fell to 49.8 in March 2024 from 51.3 in the previous month, the lowest figure since January 2023.

Japan’s current account surplus came in below estimates in February, while real wages in the country declined for the 23rd consecutive month.

Earthquake hits southern Japan, emergency warning issued for Miyazaki, Kagoshima.

China (SHCOMP) -0.71%. Chinese Premier Li Qiang Sunday said that Beijing and Washington needed to respect each other and not become adversaries. He added that some progress had been made during US Treasury Secretary Yellen’s trip to China since last Friday.

China’s foreign exchange reserves surged by $19.8 billion to reach $3.246 trillion in March 2024, exceeding market expectations of a decline to $3.21 trillion and $3.226 trillion in February.

Traders look forward to key inflation readings in China this week to gauge the health of the economy and the path for monetary policy.

Hong Kong (HSI) +0.03%.

India (SENSEX) +0.65%.

Australia (AS51) +0.20%. Australian housing finance data for February: Owner occupied +1.6% m/m & Investment +1.2%.

In the U.S. on Friday, all three major indexes ended higher as investors digested stronger-than-expected labor data.

U.S. stock futures rose on Monday as the market looks to recover some losses from last week, while cautiously awaiting key US inflation readings this week for clues on the path for interest rates: Dow -0.05%; S&P 500 -0.12%; Nasdaq -0.01%.

Investors also look forward to monetary policy decisions from central banks in the Asia Pacific region this week including the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, the Bank of Korea, the Bank of Thailand and the central bank of the Philippines. Moreover, markets will assess the latest inflation readings from the US and China later this week.

Markets also monitored rallying oil prices that could fuel inflationary pressures further.

Currencies: (JPY:USD), (CNY:USD), (AUD:USD), (INR:USD), (HKD:USD), (NZD:USD).