A view of the Tokyo headquarters of the Bank of Japan.
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Asia-Pacific markets were mostly higher on Monday as investors focused on several major central bank decisions coming this week, including the Bank of Japan and the People’s Bank of China.
The decision of the US Federal Reserve on December 18 will also be the primary issue that investors pay attention to. The CME Fedwatch tool predicts that the probability of a 25 basis point interest rate cut is 96%.
The Bank of Japan is likely to keep interest rates unchanged when it releases its decision on Thursday, while the People’s Bank of China will announce its preferential lending rate on Friday. The one-year LPR affects corporate loans and most household loans in China, while the five-year LPR is the benchmark for mortgage rates.
Traders on Monday will assess economic data from China, including industrial production, retail sales and house price data for November.
Korean Cospi It was up 0.83% in early trade, with the small-cap Kosdaq index up 1.01%.
This comes after the South Korean parliament impeached South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol on Saturday. On Monday, the country’s finance ministry reportedly said it would continue to monitor financial and foreign exchange markets following the impeachment.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.16%, while the Topix gained 0.21%.
Australian S&P/ASX 200 Index It opened down 0.23% that day.
In comparison, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index futures were quoted at 19,965 points, opening slightly weaker than the Hang Seng Index’s closing point of 19,971.24 points.
The U.S. Dow Jones Industrial Average fell for its seventh trading day on Friday, down 0.2%, its longest consecutive decline since 2020.
On the other hand, the Nasdaq rose 0.12% and the broad-based S&P 500 ended little changed at 6,051.09.
—CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Samantha Subin contributed to this report.
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