Forex Marketz Daily Forex News – Fully Markets Update
The markets in the Asian and Pacific Rim opened the week a bit higher. Asian investors are looking forward to the direction of monetary policy from central banks, due out later this week.
Asian shares gained on Monday as investors anticipated clues on the direction of monetary policy from central banks later in the week.
The South Korean, Kospi Composite index was 0.93 percent. Technology stocks supported broader gains on the index. Shares of Samsung Electronics rose 2.1 percent and SK Hynix leaped 3.11 percent. Automakers and manufacturing plays were rather mixed.
In Australia, the S&P ASX 200 rose 0.58 percent. The heavily weighted financials sub-index rose almost one percent. The energy and industrials sub-indices were also slightly higher.
Financial markets in China were also higher. The Hang Seng Index was up 0.85 percent. On mainland China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.25 percent and the Shenzhen Composite rose 0.244 percent.
Financial markets in Japan are closed for a public holiday.
Asian Investors wait on the Fed and other Policy Meetings
Later this week, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the US Federal Reserve Board’s monetary policy arm will meet. The interest rate decision expected on Thursday. Analysts and financial markets do not anticipate an interest rate hike this month. However, they will be looking for clues on plans to unwind the Fed’s bloated balance sheet.
Looking at economic news, investors are digesting US economic data. This data was released Friday before the North American market close. Retail sales fell 0.2 percent for the month of August. This is compared to the 0.1 percent rise forecast by analysts. Industrial production was down 0.9 percent compared to one month ago. This contraction is due, in part, to the disruption from Hurricane Harvey.
