Japan Leads The Way Higher

A mostly positive day for equity markets in the Asia-Pac region, volumes are slightly thinner than usual with US participants observing the Labor Day holiday. Bourses in Japan lead the way higher, a rally catalysed by PM Suga who set off succession race last week, with vaccine czar Taro Kono leading the pack in the latest opinion polls. The Topix hit a three-decade high with gains of over 1.2%. Markets in mainland China and Hong Kong also saw strong gains, the possibility of an RRR cut has gained some traction with another piece in state media discussing the possibility, markets look ahead to export data tomorrow. Markets in South Korea and Australia were the exception, both lingering in negative territory with the latter constrained by the proximity of the RBA rate announcement tomorrow. In the US futures are mixed, e-mini Nasdaq slightly higher while other majors slightly lower, as mentioned previously US markets are closed today for the Labor Day holiday.