Asian Stocks Hold Up As Markets Look To Fed, US Dollar Gains Too

Asian Stocks Talking Points:

• Stock markets made modest gains to start a new week
• Hopes for a dovish Fed seem to be lifting the market
• However, there are numerous potential worries below the surface

Find out what retail foreign exchange investors make of your favorite currency’s chances right now at the DailyFX Sentiment Page

Asian stocks were cautiously higher on Monday as investors looked with hope to this week’s Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting. There is some sense that the US central bank will steer a dovish path into 2019, with perhaps fewer interest rate hikes in prospect than have been seen this year.

Still, there was plenty of caution around too. The Bank of International Settlements said that recent market selloffs may not be an isolated event, with more volatility likely as monetary policy is normalized. The Nikkei 225 managed to gain 0.7% Monday afternoon, with Shanghai and Hong Kong up by 0.1% apiece. The ASX 200 added 1%, with bank stocks leading the way.

The Australian stock benchmark remains under clear pressure on its daily chart but a key short-term support zone between this year’s lass two significant lows continues to hold the bears in check.

Foreign exchange markets seemed a little gloomier than their equty counterparts, with haven currencies such as the US Dollar and Japanese Yen benefitting at the expense of more clearly growth-linked units. The US Dollar index hovered near 19-month highs.

That Dollar strength took a modest toll on gold, while crude oil prices were hit by worries about likely future demand level. These worries come in the wake of weaker than expected economic numbers from both China and the US in recent weeks.

Monday’s remaining economic data schedule is a little sparsely populated. The final eurozone Consumer Price Index for November is coming up though. Then the focus will move across the Atlantic and on to the house building market. Canadian existing home sales figures are due as is the housing market index from the US National Association of Home Builders.

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--- Written by David Cottle, DailyFX Research

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