Stock Market News

Asian markets falter ahead of key central bank decisions

2023.09.18 01:07


© Reuters.

Investors in Asian stock markets adopted a cautious stance on Monday, as they await several significant central bank rate decisions set to take place this week. The forthcoming meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve is particularly in focus.

Trading volumes in the region saw a slight decrease due to a public holiday in Japan. Among the affected markets, Hong Kong’s took the most significant hit, slipping 1.6% and nearing a 10-month low. This decline was primarily driven by renewed selling activity within the property sector.

China Evergrande (HK:) Group, a troubled property developer, witnessed its shares tumble almost 20% following its announcement to delay decisions on debt restructuring. Adding to investor anxieties, some employees of Evergrande’s wealth management division were detained in Shenzhen, sparking concerns about increased government scrutiny.

Other real estate firms including Country Garden Holdings, Shimao Property Holdings, and Sunac China also suffered losses ranging from 1.8% to 5%.

In mainland China, stock indexes mostly remained in a flat-to-low range. The Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 was unchanged while the fell slightly by 0.2%. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) is set to make its decision on key loan prime rates this Wednesday, but market participants generally anticipate that the rates will remain at their record lows.

Despite recent attempts by the PBOC to stimulate the economy by lowering reserve requirements for local lenders, market sentiment has become increasingly restless due to Beijing’s restrained approach towards additional stimulus measures. This frustration has been further exacerbated by the absence of any outlined plans for fiscal support from China’s government.

These developments are unfolding amid ongoing signs of an economic slowdown in China. These concerns have had ripple effects on other markets as well, with Australia’s declining by 0.7%. Major Australian mining stocks also struggled due to weak commodity prices.

South Korea’s decreased by 0.6%, while most markets in Southeast Asia recorded minor gains.

Investors worldwide are now shifting their focus to the Federal Reserve’s meeting on Wednesday. Although the bank is expected to maintain current rates, it is also likely to uphold its hawkish outlook, potentially indicating a longer period of higher rates.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

Source link

Related Articles

Back to top button
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 98,107.29 0.20%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 3,372.33 1.69%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 1.00 0.12%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 252.96 2.27%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 660.45 0.12%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 1.40 5.01%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.423772 4.10%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 1.00 0.11%
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 1.02 6.32%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 3,369.71 1.79%
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.208936 3.05%
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 41.36 2.64%
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 6.09 5.20%
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.516832 14.84%
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000026 5.89%
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 3,991.59 1.69%
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 97,748.19 0.30%
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 8.70 7.59%
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 17.80 1.43%
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 511.25 1.85%
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 3,373.59 1.65%
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 3.37 4.70%
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 6.97 7.61%
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.00002 4.02%
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 8.61 0.50%
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 96.65 5.32%
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 12.27 7.57%
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 10.90 0.85%
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 3,549.92 1.79%
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 11.33 5.46%
hedera-hashgraph
Hedera (HBAR) $ 0.140576 8.44%
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 1.00 0.12%
crypto-com-chain
Cronos (CRO) $ 0.185676 6.34%
polygon-ecosystem-token
POL (ex-MATIC) (POL) $ 0.558734 5.82%
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 28.50 6.21%
render-token
Render (RENDER) $ 8.04 0.36%
fetch-ai
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) $ 1.51 3.05%
bittensor
Bittensor (TAO) $ 528.78 2.34%
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 1.00 0.10%
kaspa
Kaspa (KAS) $ 0.151623 2.33%
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 24.47 1.16%
blockstack
Stacks (STX) $ 2.34 9.74%
bonk
Bonk (BONK) $ 0.000046 5.19%
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 1.00 0.12%
arbitrum
Arbitrum (ARB) $ 0.850482 5.21%
vechain
VeChain (VET) $ 0.042605 2.01%
filecoin
Filecoin (FIL) $ 5.61 6.98%
cosmos
Cosmos Hub (ATOM) $ 8.50 9.50%
okb
OKB (OKB) $ 54.94 6.32%
mantra-dao
MANTRA (OM) $ 3.65 2.49%