In This Article:
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Asian stock markets : https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
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Nikkei rises 0.9%, S&P 500 futures up 0.1%
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Dollar firm on yen, underpinned by high 2yr yields
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U.S. payrolls, EU inflation, China PMI due this week
By Wayne Cole
SYDNEY, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Asian shares crept higher on Monday as China announced new measures to support its ailing markets, though the mood was cautious ahead of readings on U.S. jobs and inflation could decide whether interest rates have to rise again.
Beijing on Sunday announced it would halve the stamp duty on stock trading in the latest attempt to boost the struggling market and revive investor confidence.
The help was needed given profits at China's industrial firms fell 6.7% in July from a year earlier, extending this year's slump to a seventh month.
Chinese blue chips shed 2% last week to hit its lows for the year so far, and all eyes will be on the official PMI for August out on Thursday.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan firmed 0.2%, having eked out minor gains last week to break a three-week losing streak.
Japan's Nikkei rose 0.9%, underpinned in part by the persistent weakness of the yen.
S&P 500 futures edged up 0.1% and Nasdaq futures 0.2%, extending last week's modest rise.
The market did manage to weather a slightly hawkish outlook from Federal Reserve Jerome Powell, who reiterated they might have to raise rates again but promised to move "carefully".
"We take this to mean that the FOMC does not intend to hike at the September meeting," wrote analysts at Goldman Sachs.
"We continue to expect that the FOMC will ultimately decide that further policy tightening is unnecessary, making the hike at the July FOMC meeting the last of the cycle."
Futures imply around an 80% chance of a steady outcome at the Sept. 20 meeting, and a 54% probability of a hike by year end.
DOWNSIDE RISK ON JOBS
Much will depend on the flow of U.S. data which had been running hot until a batch of manufacturing surveys last week pointed to a slowdown both at home and abroad.
That raised the stakes for this week's ISM survey on manufacturing, along with reports on payrolls, core inflation and consumer spending.
Median forecasts are for payrolls to rise 170,000 in August with a steady jobless rate of 3.5%.
Analysts at JPMorgan cautioned that job gains could be depressed by the entertainment industry strike in Hollywood and are tipping an increase of just 125,000.
Figures on EU inflation this week may also be instrumental in whether the European Central Bank decides to hike next month.