Asian stocks edge is ahead after the Wall Street got a boost from strong retail data, while bonds retreated as US policymaker sounded conflicted on whether to cut interest rates as sharply as markets were wagering.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan inched up 0.1%, continuing the see-saw pattern of recent sessions.
On Wall Street, the Dow had gained 0.93%, while the S&P 500 rose 0.82% and the Nasdaq 0.90%.
In the Minutes of Federal Reserve’s meeting, policymakers were deeply divided over whether to cut interest rates but were united in wanting to signal they were not on a preset path of more easing. Indeed, while a ‘couple’ of Fed members favoured a deeper cut of half a point, ‘several’ favoured no change at all. Two-year yields rose to 1.59% and away from last week’s low of 1.467%.
President Donald Trump reversed course and said that he was not looking at cutting payroll taxes. Now depends on how dovish Fed Chair Jerome Powell chooses to be in his Jackson Hole speech on Friday.
SEBI is the regulatory framework eased regulatory and compliance framework for foreign portfolio investors (FPI) by broad-basing their classification, and simplifying their registration, entry and know-your-customer (KYC) norms in a bid to boost investments.
Read EquityPandit’s Nifty Outlook for the Week