Japan (NKY:IND) +1.50%. Japan’s machine tool orders declined 13.6% year-on-year to JPY 115,884 million in November 2023, easing from October’s 20.6% contraction.
Investors also scaled back bets of interest rate hikes from the Bank of Japan ahead of its monetary policy decision next week.
China (SHCOMP) +0.74%. China CPI -0.5% y/y vs -0.1% expected amid softening domestic demand. China’s deflationary CPI data sends yuan to 3-week low.
China’s vehicle sales surged by 27.4% year-on-year in November 2023, marking the fourth consecutive month of growth, after rising 13.8% in October.
Meantime, some traders were possibly on edge after China’s regulators in a politburo meeting dropped the “forceful” wording when describing monetary policy for 2024, Bloomberg News said.
Traders now await the series of Chinese economic data, including retail sales and industrial output that will be released this week.
Hong Kong (HSI) -1.10%.
India (SENSEX) +0.04%.
Australia (AS51) +0.06%.
In the U.S. on Friday, all three major indexes ended higher, fueled by optimistic economic data that raised hopes for an economic soft landing. Jobs growth rises more than expected in November; unemployment rate ticks down.
U.S. stock futures held steady on Monday as investors braced for a heavy calendar week, headlined by the Federal Reserve’s final policy decision for this year: Dow -0.04%; S&P 500 -0.10%; Nasdaq -0.26%.
Caution built ahead of monetary policy decisions from major central banks this week, including the US Federal Reserve, the ECB, and the Bank of England.
Investors also look ahead to inflation, retail sales and business activity data in the US this week to better gauge the economic and interest rate outlooks, among others.
Currencies: (JPY:USD), (CNY:USD), (AUD:USD), (INR:USD), (HKD:USD), (NZD:USD).