People stand in front of an electronic board showing a China stocks advertisement outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan. Picture: REUTERS/TORU HANAI
That move helped Chinese stocks lead regional gains on Monday amid a broadly more upbeat investor mood. Hopes that major economies will seek to prop up slowing growth with fresh stimulus have helped ease some of the recessionary fears unleashed in markets last week. In China, the Shanghai composite index rose 1.5%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 1%.
The Japanese currency last traded at 106.375 per dollar, having pulled back from a seven-month peak near 105.000 reached a week ago when events including unrest in Hong Kong and a meltdown in Argentina’s markets triggered a fresh bout of anxiety in markets already shaken by the US-China trade war. Elsewhere in currencies, the dollar index against a basket of six major currencies hovered near a two-week high of 98.339 climbed on Friday. The index was supported as US Treasury yields bounced back from recent lows in the wake of German stimulus hopes.
“This week’s main event is the Jackson Hole symposium and Fed chairman [Jerome] Powell’s speech,” said Junichi Ishikawa, senior FX strategist at IG Securities in Tokyo.