- Asia's equities fell after the advance in US bonds and stocks hit a snag on Friday, raising concerns that the Federal Reserve cannot yet declare victory against inflation.
- Stock fell in China, South Korea, and Australia. Japan's markets are closed for the holiday, and trade in Hong Kong is expected to be cancelled due to a typhoon.
- Despite rising market calls for further stimulus, China's central bank kept its medium-term lending facility unchanged on Monday. Traders will also be scrutinising gross domestic product numbers, which will be muddled by the residual impacts of Shanghai's shutdown last year.
- After the PBoC's earlier increased support for the currency, the offshore yuan was little moved.
- As trading began in Asia, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 contracts were modestly lower. The underlying indices fell slightly on Friday as traders noted consolidation following a gain that nonetheless propelled the S&P 500 to its highest week since mid-June.
- The dollar was slightly changed Monday after a greenback strength index ended a 5-day losing streak on Friday. The currency's weekly decline has brought the index back to levels last seen in April 2022, prompting some strategists and investors to believe its long bull run is coming to an end.
- The yen rose after BoJ's Governor Ueda stated that uncertainty about the US and global economies remains strong. He also stated that Japan's bond-market functionality has not changed significantly since the previous monetary policy meeting in June.
