U.S. markets were due to reopen following a three-day weekend
Asian stocks were higher on Tuesday, with the South Korean Kospi bucking the trend to shed 0.5%. Chinese Shanghai Composite rose 0.8% after fresh data showed that export growth accelerated to 25.6% over a year earlier from July’s 19.3%, beating expectations of about 17%. Import growth rose to 33.1% from the previous month’s 28.1%.
Elsewhere, Japan’s government reported wages rose 1% over a year earlier in July, accelerating from the previous month’s 0.1%. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of Australia went ahead with its planned tapering of bond purchases but reiterated its need to see sustainably higher inflation to raise interest rates.
European equities opened marginally lower to settle just below all-time highs on Tuesday. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index slipped 0.1% in early deals. The Bank of England policymaker Michael Saunders said in his scheduled speech on Tuesday that the central bank no longer needs as much stimulus as before. Investors are now looking ahead to the meeting of the European Central Bank, which is expected to debate when to withdraw bond purchases. U.S. markets were due to reopen following a three-day weekend. The Bank of Canada meeting is also due this week.
In currencies, the dollar holds steady today, retaining a modest bullish bias as risk sentiment looks mixed this week. EURUSD remains capped by the 1.1885 area, trading marginally lower on the day despite stronger-than-expected German industrial production data. As long as the pair stays below the 1.1900 handle, downside risks continue to persist in the short term. Later in the week, the common currency would be affected by the outcome of the ECB meeting due on Thursday.
