Asia-Pacific markets muted as investors assess China's promises to support industries
Asia-Pacific markets were muted Monday as investors assessed China’s promises to support domestic businesses as well as developments in trade negotiations between the U.S. and countries in the region.
Over the weekend, China’s finance minister Lan Fo’an said that the Asian powerhouse will “adopt more proactive macroeconomic policies to promote the realization of the expected growth target for the whole year and continue to bring stability and momentum to the global economy,” according to a Google translation of a statement posted on the ministry’s website.
Mainland China’s CSI 300 index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index were nearly flat in choppy trade.
Over in Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.37% while the broader Topix index advanced 0.9%.
In South Korea, the Kospi index eked out a 0.13% gain while the small-cap Kosdaq fell 1.04%.
India’s benchmark Nifty 50 moved up 0.74% in early trade while the broader BSE Sensex increased 0.34%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.65%.
Investors will also be keeping tabs on developments in trade negotiations between the U.S. and countries in the region, after U.S. President Donald Trump indicated that another pause to his “reciprocal tariffs” was unlikely, according to Bloomberg reports.
U.S. futures edged down ahead of a heavy earnings week, even as all three major benchmarks rose and notched their second positive week out of three.
The broad-based S&P 500 ended last Friday’s session 0.74% higher at 5,525.21, while the Nasdaq Composite added 1.26% to end at 17,282.94. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged, but managed to edge up marginally by 0.05%, or 20 points to close at 40,113.50.
Source: CNBC
