Morning Brief – Markets Await Powell

The market mood remained subdued during the Asian session as traders awaited a scheduled speech from Federal Reserve Jerome Powell during the US trading session.

Stock performance was mixed as Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained +0.4% and China’s Shanghai Composite lost -0.2%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng suffered the most with a -1.6% loss.

To further highlight the mixed performance across Asia and the Pacific the South Korea’s KOSPI lost around-0.4% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost -0.2%.

In terms of China news, we saw China’s Ministry of Finance announcing continued tax incentives for New Energy Vehicles in another drip of stimulus.

Also, a note from ICYMI has come out and stated that the People’s Bank of China rate will cut rates again overnight, market the second rate cut this week.

The USDJPY pair had a minor move higher during the US session, despite the US dollar remaining very quiet after the US dollar index started to flex its muscles yesterday.

The Bank of Japan meeting minutes were also published today. The Minutes did not provide any reason to expect a reduction in easing policies any time soon.

However, the Minutes stated that a few members said in order for CPI inflation to rise again toward 2% after decelerating, it was necessary for wage developments, firms’ growth expectations, and medium- to long-term inflation expectations to improve.

The Minutes also noted that Members pointed out that distortions on the yield curve were dissolving, agreed that there was no need to revise the conduct of yield curve control.