Asia stocks rise, led by tech in Hong Kong: Markets summary – Business News (Trending Perfect)

(Bloomberg) — Asian stocks rose, led by a rally in Hong Kong technology shares, while hopes of a U.S. interest rate cut pushed the region’s currencies to a five-month high against the U.S. dollar.

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Asian stocks rose on Monday, following their best week in more than a year. Stock markets in China rose, while Hong Kong’s technology index jumped the most since Aug. 9. U.S. stock futures also rose. Meanwhile, the Bloomberg Asia Dollar Index rose 0.5%, with the ringgit leading the advance.

Monday’s activity suggests that fears of a U.S. recession are easing, and the prospect of lower borrowing costs is lifting sentiment across the region. The main sign of the week will be Friday, when Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is expected to offer fresh insights into the path of U.S. monetary policy at the central bank’s annual conference in Jackson Hole.

“Since recent trading activity is short-term oriented, investors are buying into the discount of the US rate cut as the valuation in Hong Kong looks attractive,” said Stephen Leung, executive director at UOBK HK. “Once the cut is confirmed, investors will take short-term profits and sell on good news.”

Over the weekend, Goldman Sachs cut the odds of a U.S. recession next year to 20% from 25%, citing last week’s retail sales and jobless claims data. “If the August jobs report due on Sept. 6 looks reasonably good, we may cut the odds of a recession to 15%,” Goldman economists led by Jan Hatzius wrote in a note to clients on Saturday.

Elsewhere in Asia this week, investors will be looking to central bank meetings in Indonesia and South Korea for signs of monetary policy easing, while Thailand's decision will be crucial after reports that the country's new prime minister may abandon a major stimulus package.

Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda is set to attend a special session of Japan’s parliament this week to discuss a July 31 interest rate hike, which has rattled global markets. Meanwhile, hedge funds turned bullish on the Japanese currency for the first time since 2021, marking a sharp turnaround from the deeply negative sentiment seen among such traders in early July. The yen was 0.5% stronger against the dollar on Monday.

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In China, authorities are expected to keep key one- and five-year lending rates steady on Tuesday after the People's Bank of China last week pledged more steps to support the economic recovery, while warning it would not adopt “radical” measures.

Markets will also be watching Chinese automakers including Xpeng Inc., Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. and Xiaomi Corp., all of which are expected to post higher vehicle sales. However, challenges remain, with competition intensifying and the European Union moving forward with tariffs.

Oil prices fell for a fourth session in five as traders tracked U.S.-led efforts to secure a ceasefire in the Middle East, while the war between Russia and Ukraine escalated. Gold hovered near an all-time high on hopes the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates. Elsewhere, iron ore had its worst week since early June on concerns that a steel industry crisis sweeping China will crimp demand, while supplies from miners remained strong.

Here's what's coming:

• The Democratic National Convention will be held on Monday, August 22.

• Annual US-South Korea Joint Military Exercises Begin Monday

• China's key lending rates, Canada's and eurozone's CPI, Tuesday

• Sweden, Turkey interest rate decisions Tuesday

• Interest rate decisions in Indonesia and Thailand, Wednesday

• Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee's July 30-31 Monetary Policy Meeting, Preliminary Review of the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Annual Payrolls, Wednesday

• European Central Bank Governing Council Member Fabio Panetta speaks in Rimini, Wednesday

• South Korea's central bank to hold interest rate decision Thursday

• U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris delivers her acceptance speech on the final night of the Democratic National Convention, Thursday.

• The Central Bank of Mexico and the National Bank of Poland issue monetary policy minutes

• Malaysia releases CPI data, while Mexico and Norway release GDP data.

• Japan's CPI data is due out, and Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda is scheduled to attend a special session of the Japanese parliament to discuss raising interest rates on July 31, Friday.

• Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey speak at the Federal Reserve's annual Jackson Hole Symposium in Kansas City, Friday.

Some key movements in the markets:

Stocks

• S&P 500 futures were up 0.2% by 12:28 p.m. in Tokyo.

• Nikkei 225 (OSE) futures fell 0.6%.

• Japan's Topix index was little changed.

• Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.2%

• Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 1.1%.

• The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.5%.

• Euro Stoxx 50 futures rose 0.2%

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Index fell 0.2%.

• The euro was little changed at $1.1037.

• The Japanese yen rose 0.5% to 146.91 yen per dollar.

• The offshore yuan rose 0.2% to 7.1473 against the dollar.

• The Australian dollar rose 0.3% to $0.6689.

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin fell 1.9% to $58,678.95

• Ether price fell 1% to $2,640.19

Bonds

• The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note was little changed at 3.89%.

• The yield on the 10-year Japanese Treasury bond rose 2.5 basis points to 0.895%.

• The yield on the 10-year Australian bond was little changed at 3.93%.

Goods

• West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.1% to $76.55 a barrel.

• Spot gold fell 0.2 percent to $2,502.18 an ounce.

This story was produced with the help of Bloomberg Automation.

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