Asian equities saw mixed trading after another ascent in Wall Street
Wall Street stocks finished higher on Monday, retaining the upside momentum after a seven-week winning streak. Equities extended the ascent after the Federal Reserve last week indicated three short-term interest rate cuts are expected in 2024. The Dow Jones was nearly unchanged, the S&P 500 climbed 0.45%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.61%. For the month so far, the Dow, which posted fresh all-time tops, is higher by 3.8%, and the Nasdaq has gained 4.8%. Also on the positive side, the US 10-year Treasury yield remained below 4% Monday.
In Asia, however, stocks were mixed on Tuesday. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index gained 1.32% after the Bank of Japan kept its ultra-lax monetary policy unchanged, as expected. The central bank also left the forward guidance on monetary policy unchanged. Elsewhere, the S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney added 0.84%, while South Korea’s Kospi was nearly unchanged, adding less than 0.1%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index declined 1.06% and the Shanghai Composite index closed less than 0.1% higher.
Meanwhile, the US dollar struggles for direction these days after a bounce from fresh multi-month lows registered last week below the 102.00 figure. The greenback has settled around 102.50, with the immediate barrier arriving at 102.65. Should risk demand continue to wane in the near term, the safe-haven US currency may challenge this hurdle, with the key resistance coming at 103.00. On the downside, the nearest support now arrives at 102.40, followed by the 102.00 figure and the 101.75 zone that capped losses last week.
In other markets, gold prices keep oscillating around the ascending 20-DMA that has been capping losses these days. The precious metal saw modest gains at the start of the week, with the overall momentum waning since peaking at $2,047 last week. As such, the $2,050 region continues to act as the immediate significant resistance at this stage, with downside risks persisting while below this level. The XAUUSD pair is now stuck around the $2,025 zone, trading nearly unchanged for the day as the US dollar decides on further direction.