Talking Points:
- Most Asian stocks were in the green as Monday wound down
- The session was not replete with intertest, but China’s inflation numbers cheered some investors
- The Euro was weighed down by politics
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The feelgood factor endured for Asian markets as a new week got under way Monday, although there was little in the way of news to take the story on.
The Nikkei 225 climbed for a ninth day straight, improving on Friday’s 21-year peak with a 0.7% rise. Australia’s ASX gained too, with raw materials forging ahead on some robust Chinese economic data.
The Euro was on the defensive following Austria’s election and the emergence of euroskeptic Sebastian Kurz as leader of the largest party. He’s short of a majority though so will need to govern in coalition. The market is also watching Spain, where the restive Catalan region’s leadership have hours to clarify their position on independence. Madrid has said that it will lift the region’s autonomy should it decide to leave, and impose direct rule. The Dollar faded a little as investors digested last Friday’s weaker US consumer price pint. There was little market action on Monday’s release of China CPI numbers, with the Australian Dollar market focused instead on domestic employment data coming up later in the week.
Crude oil prices were higher on worries about fresh Iraq sanctions, while gains for the equities took their usual toll on gold.
It’s a quiet day for scheduled economic numbers with nothing likely to draw much of a crowd. The US Empire manufacturing survey might, but that’s about it.
--- Written by David Cottle, DailyFX Research
Contact and follow David on Twitter: @DavidCottleFX
