Political developments weighed on the euro ahead of Asia’s Monday trading day as investors awaited quarterly results from regional corporates.
Markets have for days been keeping an eye on news about the next Federal Reserve chair. President Donald Trump reportedly favors nominating Federal Reserve Governor Jerome “Jay” Powell when current Chair Janet Yellen’s term comes to an end next February. Trump is expected to reveal his decision this week.
Meanwhile, the U.S. economy grew more quickly than expected in the third quarter. Gross domestic product rose 3 percent, above the 2.5 percent forecast in a Reuters poll.
Elsewhere, the Spanish government dismissed Catalonia’s parliament after it declared the region’s independence on Friday. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced regional elections would take place on Dec. 21.
On Sunday, hundreds of thousands of Catalans protested in Barcelona in support of Spanish unity.
The euro had initially gained after Friday reports on Trump’s Fed chair deliberations, but later gave up those gains during the session following news out of Spain. The common currency traded at $1.1597 at 6:47 a.m. HK/SIN after falling as low as $1.1573 in the last session.
The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. currency against a basket of six currencies, was a touch firmer at 94.899. Against the yen, the dollar traded at 113.72.
Stocks on Wall Street closed higher on Friday, with the Nasdaq composite advancing 144.489 points in the session on strong quarterly earnings reports from big tech companies. The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed up 2.2 percent at 6,701.263. Other major indexes also ended the session with gains: The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 0.14 percent, or 33.33 points, to end at 23,434.19 and the S&P 500 rose 0.81 percent to close at 2,581.07.
In Asia, futures pointed to a higher open in Japan. Nikkei futures traded in Chicago were up 0.48 percent at 22,115 and Osaka futures were 0.1 percent higher at 22,030. Those were both above the benchmark index’s Friday close of 22,008.45.
Down Under, the S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.29 percent in early trade.
Ahead, notable names due to report quarterly results on Monday include HSBC, Bank of China, Nintendo and Kobe Steel.
Oil prices rose more than 2 percent on Friday after Saudi Arabia and Russia announced they supported extending an OPEC-led agreement to cut production.
Brent crude tacked on 1.9 percent to settle at $60.44 a barrel and U.S. crude futures rose 2.4 percent to settle at $53.90.
The economic calendar on Monday is fairly light, with the only data release of note being Japan September retail sales at 7:50 a.m. HK/SIN.
Also, the Bank of Japan’s two-day meeting begins Monday.
Source: cnbc china
Asia markets await earnings releases as euro under pressure