Asian Stocks Set Record Highs, Gold Falls
Asian stocks continued to surge on Tuesday, led by Japan, which was awash in sentiment following its election victory. The Nikkei 225 rose more than 1% and set a new record, while South Korea and Australia also opened higher. This boost helped lift the MSCI Asia Pacific Index to an all-time high.
Asia's gains were driven by Wall Street. The S&P 500 closed Monday near a record high after tech stocks, battered last week, began to rebound. Concerns about AI spending that had triggered a tech sell-off, began to subside—at least temporarily—and the market entered risk-on mode.
Meanwhile, precious metals weakened. Gold and silver fell in early trading as traders took profits in a market still volatile after the previous major crash. The bottom line: stocks are being flocked to, while safe-haven assets are being left behind.
This week's market focus shifts to a busy US data schedule: retail sales, followed by the two most anticipated—the jobs report (Wednesday) and inflation/CPI (Friday). January payrolls are expected to rise by around 69,000, unemployment is predicted to remain at 4.4%, and there are revisions to historical data that could surprise the market if the payroll cut turns out to be significant.
This data will determine the direction of expectations for the Fed's interest rate. The market currently tends to expect interest rates to be on hold next month, but there is still room for a rate cut this year if inflation continues to fall and the job market doesn't heat up again. So, the stock rally could continue... or even be retested, depending on the data results. (asd)
Source: Newsmaker.id
