Tuesday, 19 September 2017

Asian stocks mixed; FOMC meeting in focus

Posted by Valentine at 11:53 Labels:

Asian markets were mixed in early trading on Tuesday, with market participants turning their heads to the Federal Reserve’s September monetary policy meeting.

Australia ASX -6.60 -0.11% 5,772.40 OPEN
Shanghai Comp -11.97 -0.36% 3,350.89 OPEN
Hang Seng Index -65.43 -0.23% 28,094.34 OPEN
Nikkei 225 +389.88 +1.96% 20,299.38 CLOSED
TSEC 50 Index -55.43 -0.52% 10,576.14 OPEN

The Federal Open Market Committee kicks off its meeting today and will announce its latest monetary decision as of 18:00 GMT on Wednesday. Investors are expecting no changes to the actual configuration. Rates are currently standing in a range between 1.00 and 1.25 percent.

Traders will also keep an eye on the plan to unwind Fed’s massive $4.5 trillion balance sheet in the following months. The US regulator is likely to announce further details on that subject.

Earlier today, the Reserve Bank of Australia presented its September minutes, explaining that policy is likely to remain steady for “some time” at a record low rate of 1.50 percent.

US top equity indexes ended at fresh peaks on Monday as the risk-on mode returned following a previous week dominated by geopolitical fears.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 22,331, followed by the S&P 500 with a 0.15 percent gain a the Nasdaq Composite rising 0.10 percent by the closing bell.

The safe-haven demand continued to weakened as secretary of state Rex Tillerson said the US wants to “bring North Korea to the table for constructive, productive dialogue.”

Days before, Tillerson warned that if economic sanctions approved by the United Nations Security Council against Pyongyang wouldn’t work, the military option is still available.

Monday was a light day for data, with Eurozone’s consumer inflation as they main report. The CPI for August was aligned expectations for a 1.5 percent y/y and 0.3 percent m/m advance.

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