Asia-Pacific markets trade mixed as investors look ahead to U.S. Fed chair Powell’s speech
Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Friday as investors look to U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at the central bank’s annual economic symposium, which could offer clues into the path of interest rates.
South Korea’s jumped 1.22% and the small-cap Kosdaq was 0.94% higher.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 0.1% at the open, while the Topix rose 0.44%.
The country’s core inflation rate cooled to 3.1% in July, coming down from 3.3% the month before. The figure — which strips out costs for fresh food — was higher than the 3% expected by economists polled by Reuters. Rice inflation eased to 90.7% in July, following two months of inflation surging past the 100% mark.
Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was flat after the index crossed the 9,000 mark for the first time Thursday.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 25,192, higher than its last close of 25,104.61.
Overnight stateside, stocks fell broadly Thursday, with the S&P 500 sliding for the fifth day in a row.
The broad-market index shed 0.4% and closed at 6,370.17, while the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.34% and settled at 21,100.31. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 152.81 points, or 0.34%, ending at 44,785.50.
Fed funds futures are pricing in a nearly 74% likelihood of the central bank cutting rates at its next policy gathering in September, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.
Source: CNBC
