Asian stocks mostly green; Irma and North Korea concerns ease

Asian stock indexes were up in early trading on Monday as market players consider hurricane Irma is less of a threat than originally expected and as geopolitical tensions in the region eased following a key national holiday in North Korea.

Australia ASX +35.70 +0.62% 5,775.10 CLOSED

Shanghai Comp +11.18 +0.33% 3,376.42 CLOSED

Hang Seng Index +267.67 +0.97% 27,936.14 OPEN

Nikkei 225 +270.95 +1.41% 19,545.77 CLOSED

TSEC 50 Index -37.79 -0.36% 10,572.16 CLOSED

On Saturday, North Korea celebrated the 69th anniversary of its founding. Experts had previously warned about a potential missile launch in that day as a way to show off weapons.

While Pyongyang opted not to materialize any missile test over the weekend, South Korean officials said a missile launch is likely to take place in the next few days.

Hurricane Irma has finally arrived to Florida on Sunday, with winds up to 130 miles per hour and leaving behind several victims in the Caribbean. The authorities ordered more than 5 million residents to evacuate as the Category 4 storm is “life-threatening”.

Earlier today, the People’s Bank of China announced that it was scrapping reserve requirements for foreign financial institutions on yuan deposits and trades called currency forwards. These measures come after the yuan rapidly strengthened against the dollar erasing entire 2016 loses.

Last week, US stocks ended mostly lower as Irma was approaching to US territory and geopolitical concerns weighed on market sentiment. Plus, traders were disappointed by labor market data, which showed a weaker-than-expected jobs build in August.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed with moderate gains at 21,797, while the S&P 500 sank by 0.15 percent and the Nasdaq Composite posted a 0.59 percent loss to end at 6360.19.

No relevant economic events are scheduled on Monday.

Fort Financial Services