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Asian Stock Market: Trades in green on Powell’s comments

  • Asian stocks kickstart fresh trading week on a higher note.
  • US Dollar Index plunges below 93.00 on FOMC Chair Powell’s comment.
  • Wall Street closed in the green on Friday but gains limited on coronavirus anxiety.

Most of the Asia-pacific stocks trade higher on Monday following a round of gains on Wall Street.

Investors ditched the greenback after Powell said that the central bank is likely to begin tapering before the end of the year, but reaffirmed his stance that the bank is unlikely to hike interest any time soon. 

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.43% higher.

The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.34% on Monday after the policymaker induced optimism that they will continue to support China’s economic recovery.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.25%, as sentiment improved after Retails Sales data jumped higher in, July more than expected.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.28% higher, South  Korea’s Kospi traded up 0.32%.

The ASX 200 fell 0.1% with investors being cautious about domestic COVID-19 situations. New South Wales reported a record 1,218 new cases on Sunday.

The US Dollar Index (DXY) trades lower below  93.00 with 0.07% losses.
 

Author

Rekha Chauhan

Rekha Chauhan

Independent Analyst

Rekha Chauhan has been working as a content writer and research analyst in the forex and equity market domain for over two years.

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