Asia-Pacific markets higher, tracking gains in global markets after soft U.S. jobs report
Nikada
Japan (NKY:IND) market closed.
China (SHCOMP) +0.97%. China’s services growth remains solid at 52.5 in April amid improved demand conditions.
Hong Kong (HSI) +0.11%. Its private sector activity expanded for the second month but its growth rate slowed from March’s 3-month peak. In other news, the city’s GDP data for Q1 came in much stronger than expected.
India (SENSEX) +0.18%. The HSBC India Services PMI was revised lower to 60.8 in April 2024 from 61.7 in the preliminary estimates and after a final 61.2 a month earlier.
Australia (AS51) +0.60%. Australian job vacancies April 2024 +2.8% m/m (prior -1%).
Australian TD/MI monthly inflation April 2024: 0.1% m/m (prior 0.1%).
All eyes are now on the Reserve Bank of Australia’s policy decision on Tuesday, which could shape the outlook for domestic monetary policy.
Markets in Japan and South Korea are closed for a public holiday.
In the U.S., on Friday, all three major indexes ended higher as softer-than-expected US jobs data revived hopes for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts this year.
U.S. stock futures edged higher on Monday after the major averages ended the previous week in positive territory: Dow +0.14%; S&P 500 +0.10%; Nasdaq +0.03%.
Investors now look ahead to fresh central bank commentary this week, as well as a raft of earnings reports from major companies.
Currencies: (JPY:USD), (CNY:USD), (AUD:USD), (INR:USD), (HKD:USD), (NZD:USD).
