- Asian shares trade mixed as traders await Fed Chair Powell’s speech from Wyoming.
- US-China tussle, hurricane Laura and second-tier data fail to impress the traders.
- BOK leaves monetary policy unchanged, downgrades 2020 growth forecast.
Asian equity bulls catch a breather as global market sentiment sours ahead of the key speech from the Jackson Hole Symposium. Even so, the MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rises 0.15% to probe the highest levels since August 2018 during the pre-European session on Thursday.
In addition to the cautious mood, headlines suggesting escalation in the Sino-American tension joins the fear of the US hurricane Laura also weigh on the risk-tone sentiment. Allegations that the World Health Organization (WHO) favors China while investigating the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak gained momentum after the US decided to punish companies helping Beijing to grab more lands in the disputed South China Sea. On the other hand, the Dragon nation undertook missile trials during the latest military drills.
To portray the sentiment, Japan’s Nikkei 225 drops 0.35% to 23,207 whereas stocks in Australia and New Zealand mark mild gains under 0.50% by the press time. Further, shares in China and Hong Kong seem to bear the burden of the Trump administration-led global hard stand while South Korea’s KOSPI drops 0.88% following the Bank of Korea’s (BOK) downbeat economic forecasts. Alternatively, Indonesia’s IDX mark a move less than 0.10% but India’s BSE Sensex adds over 0.50% amid stabilizing COVID-19 numbers at home.
Talking about data, Australia’s Private Capital Expenditure (Q2) dropped less than -8.4% forecast to -5.9% while Japan’s All Industry Activity Index crossed -0.8% expected and -4.1% prior with +6.1% rise.
Looking forward, the second-quarter (Q2) GDP numbers for Switzerland and the US may offer intermediate moves to the markets ahead of Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech. While the Fed boss isn’t expected to leave behind his economic optimism, chatters surrounding the Average Inflation Targeting (AIT) helps the market players off-late.
Read: Powell’s Jackson Hole Symposium Preview: Inflation’s virtual reality
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