Global markets today: Asian markets opened on a mixed note on Monday, following gains on Wall Street where all three major U.S. indexes advanced on Friday.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index were at 25,975, slightly below the previous close of 25,906.65. South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.04 per cent, and the Kosdaq added 0.51 per cent at the open.
Meanwhile, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 began the session 0.4 per cent lower. The Reserve Bank of Australia kicked off its two-day policy meeting today, with analysts expecting it to keep rates unchanged after third-quarter inflation came in hotter than anticipated.
Japanese markets are shut for a public holiday.
Across the region, investors are awaiting China’s latest manufacturing data, as RatingDog releases its October purchasing managers’ index. Official PMI figures from the National Bureau of Statistics showed China’s manufacturing activity fell to 49.0 in October — its lowest level in six months.
US stock market today
Wall Street’s major indexes ended higher on Friday, lifted mainly by Amazon’s strong earnings outlook, though optimism was tempered by concerns that the Federal Reserve may be turning more cautious about reducing interest rates.
All three benchmarks — the S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite, and Dow Jones — posted weekly gains and extended their longest monthly winning streaks in several years.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 40.75 points, or 0.09 per cent, to 47,562.87; the S&P 500 added 17.86 points, or 0.26 per cent, to 6,840.20; and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 143.81 points, or 0.61 per cent, to 23,724.96.
As of Friday, traders were pricing in a 65 per cent chance of a rate cut in December, down from 72.8 per cent the previous day and 91.7 per cent a week earlier, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
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