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China’s and Australia’s flags are seen on the tables where China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong held their bilateral meeting at Parliament House in Canberra on March 20, 2024.
David Gray | Afp | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets tracked Wall Street gains on Monday as a softer-than-expected U.S. jobs report fueled hopes that the Federal Reserve could start cutting rates soon.
Investors, meanwhile, awaited the Reserve Bank of Australia’s rate decision on Tuesday and China’s April trade data on Thursday.
ING said in a note last week that the RBA meeting was “worth watching closely,” adding that recent inflation data from Australia showed growth in prices was starting to accelerate.
However, the analysts said Australia’s inflation data was better than they had expected, and compared to the US, the country’s economy had slowed more with the labor market softening substantially. As such, they forecast no change to the RBA’s rate of 4.35%.
On Monday, composite purchasing managers’ index readings will be released by S&P Global for Hong Kong, while service PMI readings will be out for mainland China and India.
Japan and South Korea’s markets are closed for a public holiday.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.46% in early trade, on pace for a third straight day of gains.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures stood at 18,529, pointing to a weaker open compared to the HSI’s close of 18,475.92.
On Friday in the U.S., stocks jumped sharply after a softer-than-expected April jobs report.
Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report showed 175,000 jobs were added in April, below the 240,000 jobs expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones.
The unemployment rate edged up to 3.9%, versus 3.8% in the prior month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Wage figures also came in less than expected, an encouraging sign for inflation.
The S&P 500 surged 1.26% to notch its best day since February, while the Nasdaq Composite rallied 1.99%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.18%.
— CNBC’s Samantha Subin and Pia Singh contributed to this report.
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