Stock market today: Asian stocks gain ahead of US and Japan rate decisions
Asian stocks are higher ahead of policy decisions this week by Japan's central bank and the Federal Reserve
HONG KONG — Asian stocks advanced Monday ahead of policy decisions this week by Japan’s central bank and the Federal Reserve.
Oil prices and U.S. futures rose.
Chinese data for January-February were mixed, with property investment falling while other indicators showed improvement.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index jumped 2.4% to 39,639.27. Markets are awaiting a decision by the Bank of Japan on Tuesday on whether to raise its benchmark interest rate for the first time in 17 years. Since 2016, the rate has remained at minus 0.1%.
Signs that employers plan solid wage hikes appear to have swayed the central bank toward finally easing away from the massive monetary easing employed over many years to try to spur growth in a country where the population is quickly falling and aging. The last rate hike was 17 years ago.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong was flat at 16,720.40, and the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.5% to 3,069.67.
Elsewhere, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was unchanged at 7,670.60, while the Kospi in South Korea advanced 0.6%, to 2,681.26.
In India, the Sensex was unchanged and in Bangkok the SET was up 0.5%.
On Friday, Wall Street closed out its second straight losing week, giving back some of the gains that helped push the stock market to an all-time high earlier in the week.
The S&P 500 fell 0.6% to 5,117.09. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5% to 38,714.77, while the Nasdaq composite ended 1% lower at 15,973.17.
Technology stocks retreated. Software maker Adobe slumped 13.7% after giving investors a weak revenue forecast. Microsoft fell 2.1% and Broadcom lost 2.1%.
Communication services stocks also
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