Markets in Asia-Pacific region gained in early trade in Monday as market participants looked forward to the rate decision by the Federal Reserve, scheduled for release on Wednesday.
S&P ASX 200 was trading 0.12% up at 7,564.90 as of 06:18 a.m. This week traders will be focusing on Australia’s fourth quarter inflation figure, due to be released on Wednesday.
The Nikkei 225 was trading 0.46% higher at 35,913.65 as of 6:19 a.m. The KOSPI was up 0.45% at 2,490 as pf 6:20 a.m.
Wall Street traders pushed U.S. stocks toward another all-time high on speculation the Federal Reserve will be able to engineer a soft landing as the U.S. economy remains fairly resilient and inflation shows signs of cooling, Bloomberg reported.
The S&P 500 index fell by 0.07%, and Nasdaq 100 shed 0.55% as of Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial rose by 0.16%.
Brent crude was trading 0.48% higher at $83.95 a barrel. Gold was up 0.12% at $2,020.89 an ounce.
India’s benchmark stock indices ended lower in a truncated week on Thursday, weighed by losses in index heavyweights HDFC Bank Ltd. and Axis Bank Ltd.
On a weekly basis, the indices closed lower for the second week, with both the Nifty and the Sensex falling 1% this week. The NSE Nifty 50 settled 101.35 points, or 0.47%, lower at 21,352.60, and the S&P BSE Sensex fell 359.64 points, or 0.51%, to end at 70,700.67.
Overseas investors remained net sellers of Indian equities for the seventh consecutive session on Thursday. Foreign portfolio investors offloaded stocks worth Rs 2,144.1 crore, while domestic institutional investors mopped up equities worth Rs 3,474.9 crore, according to provisional data from the National Stock Exchange.
The Indian currency strengthened by two paise to close at Rs 83.11 against the U.S dollar.
