On Monday morning, Asian stock market indices progressed mainly in an upward direction. At the time of review, around eight o’clock in the morning, mainland China’s CSI 300 index was up 1.9 percent.
The Hang Seng index, which follows the Hong Kong stock exchange, was on the other hand down 0.2 percent. South Korea’s Kospi index was up 1.2 percent. Japan’s stock market is exceptionally closed today.
Minister of Finance of the People’s Republic of China La Fo’an hinted at Saturday’s press conference to take on debt to support the ongoing economy. According to him, the country has “quite a lot” of room to increase its deficit.
China-related deflation fears deepened in September, when consumer prices rose only 0.4 percent from the year-ago comparison period. Producer prices, on the other hand, decreased by 2.8 percent.
Both readings fell short of economic experts’ forecasts.
Last week, South Korea’s central bank, the BOK, cut its key interest rate by 0.25 percentage points to 3.25 percent. It was the country’s first interest rate cut since 2020.
The central bank’s latest decision marks the end of an exceptionally long period of tightening, which pushed interest rates to 15-year highs in 2023.
At the time of review, one euro was worth 1.09 dollars, 163.08 yen, 0.84 pounds and 11.34 Swedish kronor. The dollar was 149.29 yen and the pound was 1.31 dollars.
The largest Index Futures foreshadow a sideways week opening for both Europe and the United States.