Asian stocks are rising in the Fed chair, which is growing like hurricanes in Louisiana

HONG KONG, Aug 30 (Reuters) – Asian equities began the week with gains and the dollar was not far from two-week lows after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell had a more obvious tone than some investors expected in the long-awaited speech on Friday.

Meanwhile, oil prices rose after energy companies suspended production as Hurricane Ida hit the southern U.S. coast.

Japan’s Nikkei (.N225) rose 0.9% shortly after the bell, and MSCI’s broader Asia-Pacific stock index outside of Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) gained 0.32% in the first businesses before the opening of Chinese markets.

Australia (.AXJO) was up 0.39% and Kopsi of Korea (.KS11) was up 0.54%.

Future US stock markets, the S&P 500 e-minis, barely moved, up 0.04%.

Investors had been waiting to see if Powell, who spoke at a symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, would give a clear indication of his views on when the central bank would reduce asset purchases or raise interest rates. to begin to eliminate the monetary stimulus.

However, in its prepared statements, it offered no indication of the reduction in asset purchases beyond saying it could be “this year,” which prompted the S&P 500 (.SPX) and the Nasdaq (.IXIC) closed last week with new record highs. Read more

The next big event in traders ’calendars is U.S. non-farm payroll figures for August, which will be released on Friday, as Powell has suggested that improving the job market is one of the main prerequisites for action. .

“A strong payroll impression could spark a debate for a reduced start to September,” Rodrigo Catril, FX’s chief strategist at NAB, said in a note.

The absence of a time-reducing timetable caused the U.S. Treasury and benchmark dollar to fall, and both trends continued Monday morning in Asia.

The yield on 10-year benchmark Treasury bills was 1.3054% compared to the US close of 1.312%, and the dollar index measuring the green dollar against a basket of currencies went be around the minimum two weeks.

By contrast, investors in China are looking at data this week to see if they indicate that policymakers will increase easing measures.

Purchasing managers ’surveys on manufacturing and services are due this week, and traders are waiting to see if the trend will continue to slow growth, a change that has not been helped by recent localized movement restrictions to make in the face of increasing cases of the Delta variant of the new coronavirus.

“We expect the manufacturing and services PMI to moderate in August, given Delta’s widespread variant and strict lockout,” Barclays analysts said in a note.

“With the slow pace of growth and the obedient signals of this week’s (People’s Bank of China) meeting, we expect more relaxation, but still at a measured pace.”

Oil also concentrated after energy companies suspended 1.74 million barrels per day of oil production in the Gulf of Mexico in the United States as Hurricane Ida faced the Louisiana coast as a category storm 4. Read more

US crude rose 0.86% to $ 69.34 a barrel. Brent crude rose 1.25% to $ 73.38 a barrel.

Gold was slightly higher, with the spot price of gold trading at $ 1,817.7863 an ounce, up 0.07%.

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