Business Maverick: Global stocks hold monthly gain before Fed, ECB: markets wrap

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A gauge of global stocks held to a monthly gain of more than 6% amid mixed trading in Asia on Tuesday as investors positioned for interest-rate hikes this week from the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank.

Equities benchmarks for Hong Kong, mainland China and Japan fluctuated. Futures for US indexes edged up in the wake of a torrid session on Wall Street that saw the Nasdaq 100 suffer its worst day since Dec. 22 as Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. weighed on the market.fell as much as 3% in Seoul, weighing on South Korea’s Kospi gauge, after profit slumped on poor demand for semiconductors and weakness in smartphones and memory chips.

Traders in Asia are also focused on developments surrounding India’s Adani Group, and economic data from China, where January purchasing managers’ surveys beat expectations, reflecting a recovery in demand that should support the nation’s asset prices. Hanging over everything is Wednesday’s Fed decision, with the US central bank widely expected to raise rates by a quarter percentage point. Investors will be watching for the tone officials set for future meetings after Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s consistent efforts to push back against traders anticipating rate cuts later this year.

Those adding to the rally will be disappointed if they’re in direct defiance of the Fed, a team of Morgan Stanley strategists led by Mike Wilsonin a note. Citi Global Wealth’s Kristen Bitterly echoed this, saying that January’s rally was technical as it was largely driven by 2022’s “laggards and losers”.

 

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