Asian equity indexes higher as US gov shutdown ended; BOJ keeps policy steady

Asian equity indexes were mostly higher on Tuesday following a solid lead from Wall Street as lawmakers were able to revert the government shutdown.

Earlier in the day, the Bank of Japan announced its keeping current monetary policy configuration steady after a two-day meeting. This decision cause little market volatility as it was a widely expected outcome.

Wall Street top three stock indexes were able to end Monday’s session in green territory as the US Congress put an end to a the federal government shutdown for at least three weeks.

President Donald Trump signed a bill aimed to extend funding the administration through February 8. In return to Democrats support, the Senate will debate on immigration matters.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 142.88 points or 0.55 percent to finish at 26,214.60, marking a new all-time high. The S&P 500 was up 0.8 percent at 2,832.97, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite also ended at an all-time peak, at 7,408.03.

Market participants also monitored the corporate earnings season. To date, nearly 68 percent of the S&P 500 companies have shown better-than-expected earnings this season, and 85 percent of those have reported stronger sales figures than initially estimated.

<<< Asian Stock Indexes at 07:50 GMT >>>

Australia ASX S&P                +44.50            +0.73%           6,150.70

Shanghai Composite             +45.14            +1.29%           3,546.50

Hong Kong Hang Seng          +476.95          +1.47%           32,870.36

Japan Nikkei 225                   +307.82          +1.29%           24,124.15

Taiwan TSEC 50 Index          +21.65            +0.19%           11,253.11

<<< Next in Europe >>>

Today, attention will be directed mainly to the European economic front. Germany’s ZEW current conditions and economic sentiment  for January is due for release as of 10:00 GMT.

Traders will also keep an eye on an meeting of European Finance ministers scheduled later in the day. And the United Kingdom is expected to show CBI industrial trends orders at 11:00 GMT.

<<< Next in the United States >>>

The American Petroleum Institute will present its latest crude and refined products stockpiles estimates at 21:35 GMT on Tuesday.

Analysts are forecasting a 1.3 million barrels reduction in weekly crude supplies; a 2.440 million barrels increase in gasoline stocks; and a 1.580 million barrels draw in distillate inventories.