Talking Points
- Asian stocks followed Friday's Nasdaq down as a new week got under way
- Residual nerves following the UK’s fraught election probably didn’t help
- And neither did the wait for this week’s US Federal Reserve monetary call
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Asian stocks fell Monday, with tech heavyweights knocked by their US counterparts' Friday woes. A bit of caution has also set in ahead of this week’s monetary policy decision from the Federal Reserve, which is expected to include an interest-rate hike.
Technology sold off quite sharply on Wall Street at the end of last week on worries about Apple’s new iPhone and after a cautious report from Goldman Sachs on the sector. Sure enough the likes of Taiwan Semicon and Samsung were lower Monday. The Nikkei closed down 0.5%, with the Kospi off 1.1% overall. Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong stocks both slipped, but Australia’s ASX 200 missed out as it was closed for a holiday.
It was a light session for Asia/Pacific economic data. Everything of note came from Japan., but none of it moved the Yen. Machine orders came in way under expectations for April, but this is a notably volatile series. May’s corporate goods prices rose by less than the market had forecast they would.
In the currency market the British Pound steadied after last Friday’s sharp, election-related falls. The Conservative administration of Prime Minister Theresa May has returned to power. However, it has lost its parliamentary majority and must now govern -and negotiate Brexit- with the help of Northern Irish unionists.
Gold prices inched higher, after three days of losses as stocks made heavy weather of a new week. Crude oil prices tacked on a little over 20 cents/barrel for both the US benchmark and international Brent. The market was reportedly prepared to bet that prices may have formed a base despite endemic oversupply and a seemingly unstoppable rise in US production levels.
The European and North American day offers investors precious little although the US monthly budget statement is coming up.
--- Written by David Cottle, DailyFX Research
Contact and follow David on Twitter: @DavidCottleFX
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