- Asian equities fell as traders reduced their expectations that the Federal Reserve will decrease interest rates sharply in 2019 and as morale was harmed by a prolonged selloff in China. The dollar was up.
- A measure of the equities in the area was headed for a third straight day of declines, with benchmarks in Hong Kong and Japan seeing the worst losses. Following Monday's losses when the S&P 500 dropped from its highest point since March 2022, US futures also slightly declined.
- Asia's traders are having a hard time finding new catalysts following the strongest monthly gain since January. Better-than-expected services activity data hasn't been able to allay worries about the economy's confused growth trajectory, as seen by the fact that a benchmark for Chinese onshore equities is trading at its lowest level since 2019.
- Speaking on China on Television, Alpine Macro's chief emerging markets and China analyst Yan Wang stated, "The economy has been pretty sluggish as this lack of confidence drags on." "If there is no significant change in the official stimulus, the trajectory will not improve much heading into the new year," he stated.
- The Reserve Bank of Australia kept interest rates unchanged and gave dovish remarks on inflation, which caused the Australian currency to weaken. The Bank of Japan's assessment that price pressures are abating is supported by Tokyo inflation statistics, which slowed more than anticipated and caused the yen to stabilise after first spiking.
