In the early morning of April 18, 2023, Melbourne’s skyline was reflected on the Maribyrnong River.
William West | AFP | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets traded within a narrow range on Tuesday as investors assessed comments from European Central Bank officials suggesting that the world’s largest economic bloc may be about to cut interest rates.
in Asia, S&P/ASX 200 Index It rose slightly, with an increase of 0.14%. Australia is expected to release retail sales data later today.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index Prices are also trading near the flat line, as is the broad-based Topix index.
Korean Cospi The small-cap Kosdaq index rose 0.42%.
However, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index futures were quoted at 18,803 points, a slightly weaker opening than the Hang Seng Index’s closing point of 18,827.35 points.
in a speech On Monday, Oli Rehn, a member of the European Central Bank’s Governing Council and Governor of the Bank of Finland, stressed that inflation in the euro zone is “continuously” falling. “The time is therefore ripe to ease the stance of monetary policy and start cutting interest rates in June,” he added.
Despite a slight rebound in December, euro zone inflation held steady at 2.4% in April, the seventh consecutive month below 3%. Data for May will be released on Friday.
At the same time, Philip Lane, chief economist of the European Central Bank, said in the report Interviewed by the Financial Times”, “Barring a major surprise, what we are seeing so far is enough to lift the highest level of restrictions.
The comments come ahead of the central bank’s next meeting on June 6.
Futures on all three major stock indexes rose as U.S. markets resumed trading today after being closed for Memorial Day on Monday.
Blue Chip Stock Futures Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.09%, while those with S&P 500 Index up 0.13%. Nasdaq Futures gained the most, rising 0.21%.
—CNBC’s Katrina Bishop contributed to this report.
About The Author
