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The Asia-Pacific equity markets were mixed on Monday in thin holiday trade as market participants digest worse-than-expected economic data from China amid persistently feeble domestic demand and increasing external pressures. The Japan ( NKY:IND ) market closed. The Japanese yen rose to around 140.
5 on Monday, hovering near its highest levels since July 2023 amid a widening monetary policy divergence between Japan and the US. China ( SHCOMP ) market closed. The offshore yuan slipped to around 7.
10 per dollar, pressured by weaker-than-expected economic data from China. Saturday's data from China showed that industrial output, retail trade, and fixed investment all slowed more than forecasts, and the jobless rate edged higher last month. Foreign direct investment into China slumped 31.
5% year-on-year to CNY 580.19 billion (USD 81.80 billion) during January-August of 2024, a steeper than the 29.
6% drop in the first seven months of 2024. Additionally, China’s new home prices in 70 cities declined by 5.3% year-on-year in August 2024, after a 4.
9% fall in the previous month. Attention now turns to the PBoC's upcoming decisions on key lending rates, particularly the 1-year loan prime rate and the 5-year rate, which are set to be announced on Friday. Hong Kong ( HSI ) -0.
35% fell in early trade on Monday, ending gains from the prior two sessions. India ( SENSEX ) +0.26% .
Total passenger vehicle sales in India shrank 1.6% from a year earlier to 308,779 in August 2024, following a 1.9% fall in the previous month, data from Automobile Manufacturers showed.
Australia ( AS51 ) +0.35% climbed on Monday, with gold stocks leading the charge amid rallying bullion prices. In the U.
S., on Friday, all three major indexes ended higher as anticipation grew that a series of Fed rate cuts will start later this week. U.
S. stock futures steady on Monday as investors geared up for the highly-anticipated policy decision from the Federal Reserve this week: Dow +0.06% ; S&P 500 +0.
04% ; Nasdaq flat. Week Ahead: The highlight will be on the FOMC rate decision and updated Summary of Economic Projections, meanwhile rate decisions from the BoJ, BoE and PBoC LPR are also due. Inflation data from UK, Canada and Japan will be in focus, as will Retail Sales reports from the US and UK.
Australian jobs and New Zealand GDP are also scheduled for release. Currencies: ( JPY:USD ), ( CNY:USD ), ( AUD:USD ), ( INR:USD ), ( HKD:USD ), ( NZD:USD ). More on Asia: China's retail sales rise less than expected in August, industrial output misses estimates As China stumbles, these consumer companies are bucking the trend China's trade surplus widens in August, exports grow fastest since March 2023 and imports missed forecasts China CPI inflation picks up, but misses forecast, PPI continues to shrink Japan Q2 GDP revised down to weaker gain.
