Asian markets in mixed tone
Most regional markets closed for holidays, while US futures edged lower after the S&P 500 ended last week above 5,000pts; Most Asian markets made losses except for Thailand’s SET and Jakarta’s benchmark which made gains, in US the Dow Jones Industrial Average was a laggard and rest other markets made gains
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Bangkok: Asian shares were mixed on Monday, with most regional markets closed for holidays, while US futures edged lower after the S&P 500 ended last week above 5,000. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.4 per cent to 7,614.90 and the Sensex in India shed 0.7 per cent to 71,129.07. Thailand’s SET gained less than 0.1 per cent and in Jakarta, the benchmark gained 0.8 per cent ahead of an election to be held on Wednesday.
With mainland Chinese markets closed for the week for the Lunar New Year, there was a dearth of market moving news. Tokyo’s markets also were shut on Monday, for a one-day holiday. This week will bring an important update from the United States on consumer inflation expectations. Japan is due on Thursday to announce its GDP growth for the last quarter of 2023.
The US price data may not have a major impact on monetary policy, “However, the good news is that US inflation probably decreased at the beginning of the year, reinforcing expectations that the Federal Reserve may consider interest rate cuts in the coming months,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.
