At 7:20 AM, GIFT Nifty futures were also trading marginally higher at 25,021, around 50 points ahead of Nifty futures’ last close, which indicated a positive start for Indian markets.
US stocks closed sharply higher on Monday and the dollar strengthened as markets awaited key data and actions from central banks.
All three major US stock indices surged more than 1 per cent, with the S&P 500 and the Dow ending a four-session losing streak, bouncing back from their biggest weekly percentage losses since March 2022. The tech-heavy Nasdaq also staged a comeback.
The strong showing overnight in the US were driving Asia-Pacific markets higher on Tuesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.52 per cent, while the broad-based Topix was 0.65 per cent higher. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 had gained 0.69 per cent, and South Korea’s Kospi index was up 0.17 per cent, while the small-cap Kosdaq also rose 0.18 per cent.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures were at 17,216, higher than the HSI’s last close of 17,196.96.
The greenback strengthened ahead of Wednesday’s much anticipated Consumer Price Index report.
Last week mixed data, particularly the August employment report, caused investors to dial back expectations that the US Federal Reserve could issue an outsized 50 basis point rate cut when it convenes for its policy meeting next week.
In Asia, traders will monitor August trade data from China and India. China’s exports and imports for August are expected to grow by 6.5 per cent year-on-year and 2.0 per cent, respectively, according to a Reuters poll, in what would be the slowest pace in four months.
On Wednesday, the Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index is expected to show underlying inflation remains on its meandering path back down toward the central bank’s 2 per cent target.
At last glance, financial markets have baked in a 71 per cent likelihood that the Fed will lower its key policy rate by 25 basis points at the end of next week’s meeting, with a 29 per cent probability of a 50 basis point reduction, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 484.28 points, or 1.2 per cent, to 40,829.69, the S&P 500 gained 62.65 points, or 1.16 per cent, at 5,471.07 and the Nasdaq Composite added 193.77 points, or 1.16 per cent, at 16,884.60.
European stocks staged a comeback with the benchmark STOXX 600 recovering from last week’s steep declines as investors awaited an expected interest rate cut from the European Central Bank later in the week.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.82 per cent and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.58 per cent.
Emerging market stocks lost 1.07 per cent. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 1.13 per cent
lower, while Japan’s Nikkei lost 0.48 per cent.
US Treasury yields waffled in choppy trading amid uncertainty over the size of the Fed’s expected rate cut this month. Benchmark 10-year notes last rose 1/32 in price to yield 3.7061 per cent, from 3.71 per cent late on Friday.
Crude rose as concerns over supply worries arising from forecasts of a hurricane hitting Louisiana this week helped oil prices rebound from last week’s heavy losses.
US crude rose 1.54 per cent to settle at $68.71 per barrel, while Brent settled at $71.84 per barrel, up 1.10 per cent on the day.
Gold prices pared gains but held their ground as investors awaited key inflation data. Spot gold added 0.4 per cent to $2,505.75 an ounce.
