Asia-Pacific markets set to mostly rise after AI-fueled rout last week
Citizens are shopping at a supermarket in Nanjing, East China’s Jiangsu province, on March 9, 2024.
Costfoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets were mostly poised for a higher open Monday, after artificial intelligence valuation concerns fuelled declines in markets across the region last week.
Investors in Asia are also assessing October inflation data from China out over the weekend, which came in above expectations.
Headline consumer inflation was at 0.2% year on year, compared to expectations of zero growth from economists polled by Reuters. Wholesale inflation saw a softer-than-expected drop of 2.1% year on year, against the expected 2.2% decline.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 futures pointed to a stronger open for the market, with the futures contract in Chicago at 50,920, and its counterpart in Osaka at 50,410, compared with its Friday close of 50,276.37.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 started the day up 0.33%.
However, Hong Kong markets look set to fall, with Hang Seng index futures at 26,121, lower than the HSI’s last close of 26,241.83.
On Friday stateside in the U.S., the Nasdaq Composite continued to fall, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 inched into positive territory after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer offered up a new plan to Republicans that would enable the record-breaking U.S. government shutdown to end.
A survey from the University of Michigan revealed Friday that consumer sentiment in the country has neared its lowest level ever. The data comes just a day after firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that layoff announcements in October reached their highest level for the month in 22 years.
—CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Pia Singh contributed to this report.
