Asian stocks advance ahead of US, Japan rate decisions - ExBulletin

Source: ExBulletin

HONG KONG (AP) Asian stocks rose Monday ahead of policy decisions this week by Japan's central bank and the Federal Reserve.

Oil prices and US futures rose.

Chinese data Results for January-February were mixed, with real estate investment falling while other indicators showed improvement.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index jumped 2.4% to 39,639.27. Markets await the Bank of Japan's decision on Tuesday whether or not to raise its benchmark interest rate for the first time in 17 years. Since 2016, the rate has remained at minus 0.1%.

Signs that employers are considering big wage increases appear to have pushed the central bank to finally abandon the massive monetary easing used for many years to try to spur growth in a country where the population is shrinking and aging rapidly. The last rate increase was 17 years ago.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng was flat at 16,720.40 and the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.5% to 3,069.67.

Elsewhere, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index was unchanged at 7,670.60, while South Korea's Kospi rose 0.6% to 2,681.26.

In India, the Sensex remained unchanged and in Bangkok, the SET increased by 0.5%.

Wall Street closed out its second straight week of losses on Friday, giving back some of the gains that helped propel the stock market to a record high earlier this week.

The S&P 500 fell 0.6% to 5,117.09. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5% to 38,714.77, while the Nasdaq composite finished 1% lower at 15,973.17.

Technology stocks fell. Software maker Adobe fell 13.7% after giving investors weak revenue forecasts. Microsoft fell 2.1% and Broadcom fell 2.1%.

Shares of communications services also helped push the market lower. Meta platforms fell 1.6% and Google parent Alphabet fell 1.3%.

The latest pullback in stocks came as traders reviewed several reports showing that inflation, while slowing overall, remains stubborn.

A closely watched report from the University of Michigan showed that consumer confidence dropped unexpectedly in March.

Inflation remains Wall Street's top concern amid hopes the Federal Reserve will begin cutting interest rates. The Fed sharply raised interest rates starting in 2022 in an effort to bring inflation back to its 2% target. Consumer inflation reached 9.1% in 2022.

A report on consumer price last week, inflation remained stubborn, reaching 3.2% in February compared to 3.1% in January. Another report on wholesale price also showed that inflation remained higher than Wall Street expected.

Other reports this week showed some slowing in the economy, boosting hopes of a continued slowdown in inflation in the long term.

The rally in stocks that began in October has mostly stalled this month as investors question the direction of inflation, the Fed and the economy.

Fed officials will give their latest forecasts on Wednesday for the evolution of interest rates this year, following their last policy meeting. Traders are still leaning toward a rate cut in June, according to CME Group data. The Fed's key rate remains at its highest level since 2001.

In other trading, benchmark U.S. crude oil gained 36 cents to $81.40 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 31 cents to $85.65 a barrel.

The US dollar fell from 149.03 Japanese yen to 149.12 Japanese yen. The euro fell to $1.0887 from $1.0889.