Monday’s trading across key Asian indexes was generally negative as investors awaited the publication of vital economic data later in the week. Wednesday will see the release of Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes from the United States.
Both the 1-year and 5-year prime loan rates of the People’s Bank of China remained unchanged, as was largely anticipated. No major changes were seen in the offshore yuan’s value against the dollar, which was at 6.8718 as of early Monday.
The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong opened the trading day down 0.38%. As for mainland China, the Shanghai Composite began the day up 0.18%.
At 9.24 a.m. (Thai time), the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia was trading slightly higher ahead of Tuesday’s release of minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia’s most recent monetary policy meeting.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan began on Monday with a little gain. The South Korean Kospi index rose by 0.11$ at the open.
Wall Street saw a mixed week’s end, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average earning over 100 points on Friday but yet losing ground for the third week running. For the second week in a row, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite closed lower on Friday.
Due to Presidents’ Day, Monday will be a trade holiday in the United States.
