VOT Research Desk
Early on Thursday, the economic outlook in Asia strengthened despite the absence of significant events. However, the market’s cautious optimism is also supported by expectations for additional Chinese stimulus and talk of rate hikes with a softer landing.
The majority of policymakers discussed the need to cut down interest rate hikes, according to the most recent Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) Meeting Minutes, which in turn fueled the risk-on attitude.
Talk about the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) interest rates being sufficiently restrictive also put pressure on the dollar.
The expectation that the Chinese government will act to soothe the banking and real estate sectors’ pains, as well as rumors that the Reserve Requirement Ratio (RRR) of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) will be reduced, seems to have benefited the risk-on attitude elsewhere.
In the midst of these moves, the MSCI index of Asia-Pacific equities ex-Japan continues to rebound from the previous day, while the Nikkei 225 in Japan has risen intraday by 1.10% as of the time of publication.
It’s important to note that the Jibun Bank Manufacturing PMI for Japan’s preliminary readings fell to 49.4 from 50.7 in the last release and projections, indicating a steep dip in manufacturing activity in Tokyo.
The largest gainers in the stock market are in China, while the KOSPI in South Korea cannot support the Bank of Korea’s rate increase. Additionally, Australian and Indian stocks are
