September 23, 2024 03:52 GMT
ASIA STOCKS: Signs of Strength, with South East Asia Lagging.
ASIA STOCKS
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- Asian stocks started the week strongly after the PBOC reduced the interest rate on a lesser used liquidity tool.
- The 14-day repo rate is in place to support the daily used 7-day repo rate in the event of holidays.
- With the upcoming National Day Holidays, the 14-day rate was reduced following July’s cut of the 7-day rate.
- For many regional equity investors this was a sign of things to come that the PBOC is willing to support the ailing Chinese economy and that the potential for further stimulus remains.
- In India, data shows that net foreign purchases this quarter are the strongest they have been since 2023, unsurprisingly given the outlook for GDP growth.
- Last week saw investors in India starting to look forward to interest rate cuts from the RBI, buying interest rate sensitive stocks like banks and real estate. Whilst it may be some time off before the RBI cuts rates (given the seasonality expected in September data), the October 9 meeting could put rate cuts in play for the following meeting.
- The Nifty 50 firmed 2.03% last week.
- Trade data out this morning in Korea continues to show that the semi-conductor boom is continuing rising by 26.2% in the first part of September.
- The push pull between the Central Bank and Politicians in the desire to cut rates will be a driving factor for Korea in the coming months.
- Having risen 0.70% last week, the KOSPI is up 0.33%. The relative underperformance of the KOSPI is possibly a reflection of the disparity of views between the BOK and politicians.
- Elsewhere in the region, Malaysia is bucking the trend off -0.25% ahead of its upcoming CPI number and the Jakarta composite is following this trend down 0.36%
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