Talking Points:
- Asian markets greeted a new week with some vigor
- Wall Street’s Friday pep was behind most of it, local economic news was sparse
- North Korea has reportedly tested yet another missile but markets took this report in stride
A new week started with a bit of green on most Asian equity screens Monday following Wall St.’s continuing recovery last week.
News of yet another North Korean missile test at the weekend didn’t dampen investors’ vigor as they looked with apparent hope to US President Donald Trump’s first overseas jaunt in office. An arms deal worth $350 billion was signed between the US and Saudi Arabia at the weekend. The Nikkei 225 had added 0.45% by the end of the session, with Australia’s ASX up by 0.8%. The only red visible came from China where the Shanghai Composite slipped a little. Hong Kong stocks by contrast participated fully in the regional bounce, adding 1%.
Asian economic data were thin on the ground. Of what there was the biggest story was a fairly robust showing for Japan’s trade account, with ongoing strength in both exports and imports.
The US Dollar index which compares it against a basket of six major traded rivals stayed near last week’s six-month lows, but there was weakness too for the British Pound- which was possibly Brexit related, and the Japanese Yen. Crude oil prices managed gains of about 25 cents barrel, reportedly on hopes that supply cuts from traditional producers could be not only extended but deepened. Gold prices clung to Friday’s gains but advanced little further.
The rest of the session is unusually devoid of first-tier economic data from either Europe or North America. However, investors can look forward to hearing from Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari and Philadelphia’s Patrick Harker. Both are voting members of the Federal Open Market Committee this year.
--- Written by David Cottle, DailyFX Research
Contact and follow David on Twitter: @DavidCottleFX
