© Reuters.
By Gina Lee
Investing.com – Asia Pacific stocks were mostly down on Monday morning, with investors continuing to assess the economic growth outlook for the world’s largest economies and whether a recent selloff will continue.
Japan’s gained 0.45% by 10:25 PM ET (2:25 AM GMT), while South Korea’s inched down 0.01%.
In Australia, the inched up 0.05%. Saturday’s election that delivered a clear victory for Australia’s Labor Party gave the Australian dollar a boost, and was sworn in as the country’s 31st prime minister earlier in the day.
Hong Kong’s fell 1.29%.
China’s was down 0.44% and the was down 0.32%. The People’s Bank of China held the one-year loan prime rate (LPR) at 3.7%, but cut the five-year LPR to 4.45%, on Friday.
and rose about 1%, but the fell for a seventh consecutive week in a stretch of weakness unseen since 2001.
U.S. Treasuries gave up some of Friday’s gains, with investors debating the U.S. Federal Reserve’s tighter monetary policy as concerns continue to grow about an economic slowdown.
However, uncertainty remains as concerns about slowing economic growth and the ongoing war in Ukraine, perpetrated by the Russian invasion on Feb. 24. Commodity prices remain elevated due to the war, while supply chains remain disrupted due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictive measures in China.
“As macro-economic concerns stemming from aggressive monetary tightening, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and China’s stringent COVID-19 lockdowns persist, we anticipate great volatility in the market,” Federated Hermes (NYSE:) Ltd. portfolio manager global equities Louise Dudley said in a note.
Investors now await the , due on Wednesday. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said the central bank should front-load a series of interest rate hikes to push rates to 3.5% at the end of 2022, which if successful would curb inflation and could lead to easing in 2023 or 2024.
Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic and Kansas City Fed President Esther George are also due to speak later in the day.
Across the Atlantic, European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council members Robert Holzmann and Joachim Nagel will be joined by Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey to discuss inflation at an event later in the day
Meanwhile, the will hand down its policy decision on Wednesday, with the following a day later.
On the data front, the Eurozone and purchasing managers’ indexes (PMIs) are due on Tuesday, with the ECB publishing its a day later.
U.S. , as well as the and PMIs, are due Tuesday, with the due on Thursday. The and the will follow a day later.
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