A Chinese flag in Pudong’s Lujiazui Financial District in Shanghai, China, on Sept. 18, 2023.
Raul Ariano | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets were mostly higher Monday as investors digested monetary policy decisions from Japan and China as well as the U.S. Federal Reserve’s sharp rate cut last week.
Data last Friday showed China’s youth unemployment rate rose for a second straight month to its highest level this year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, as the labor market cools down amid a weakening economy.
Despite growing calls for lower interest rates, the People’s Bank of China unexpectedly left its key benchmark rate on hold on Friday.
China’s central bank supplied 234.6 billion yuan ($33.29 billion) to the banking system through open market operations, according to a statement on Monday, in a move to “maintain reasonably sufficient liquidity in the banking system at the end of quarter.” It also lowered the 14-day reverse repo rate to 1.85% from 1.95% set in the previous funding operation in February.
Separately, the U.S. is reportedly mulling a ban on importing and selling cars from China that carry software and hardware for communications or autonomous driving systems.
The Bank of Japan also kept its benchmark interest rate steady at around 0.25% on Friday. Japan’s authorities were closely watching the markets for signs of any rebuild of yen carry trades which could heighten market volatility, Japan’s top currency diplomat Atsushi Mimura said.
Markets in Japan were closed Monday for a public holiday, but futures contract tied to the Nikkei 225 in Chicago were trading at 38,530, compared to the index Friday close of 37,723.91.
The Japanese yen weakened slightly to 144.37.
The Reserve Bank of Australia starts its two-day policy meeting on Monday, where central bankers will decide on the country’s monetary policy path on Tuesday.
Singapore is set to release its August consumer prices index, with core CPI estimated to have risen 2.6% year on year, according to a Reuters poll, compared to 2.5% in July. Overall year-on-year CPI is expected to have cooled to 2.15%, compared to 2.40% the previous month.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.47%.
In South Korea, the Kospi gained 0.33% reversing course from a lower open, while the small-cap Kosdaq was up 1.16%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index edged 0.76% higher, while mainland China’s CSI 300 rose 0.65%.
The Taiwan Weighted Index inched up 0.41%.
The three major U.S. indexes notched weekly gains last week, with the S&P 500 advancing 1.36% to mark its fifth positive week over the past six weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average concluded the week with 1.62% gains while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 1.49%.
On Friday, the 30-stock Dow closed at a record high, gaining 0.09% in the day to 42,063.36. The S&P 500 pulled back 0.19%, ending at 5,702.55, while Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.36% to end at 17,948.32.
—CNBC’s Hakyung Kim and Brian Evans contributed to this report.