Mostly Positive

Most equity markets in the Asia-Pac region saw gains on Monday, though moves were limited in a subdued session; markets continue to weigh comments from FOMC Chair Powell at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium on Friday, US equity markets finished last week with gains after Powell was less hawkish than expected. Chinese tech stocks saw gains, building on an advance last week which constituted the biggest weekly gain since January. The Hang Seng was a beneficiary of the rally though early gains of up to 1.5% were eroded as the session wore on. Brokerages in China took a hit after reports in state media that regulators have told brokerages to step up oversight of non-compliant margin trading activities. Markets in Japan are higher, data earlier showed retail sales rose above estimates. US futures are slightly higher, indices seeing gains of less than 0.1% heading into the European open. Markets await US NFP data on Friday after Powell indicated the labour market has not reached the FOMC's threshold to taper just yet.