Nikkei climbs as hopes of Chinese stimulus grow
Chinese stimulus hopes are pushing Asian equities higher today, with the Nikkei gaining one per cent to a two-and-a-half week high and a softer yen encouraging exporters.
China’s yuan, meanwhile, has fallen to a one-week low. On Friday, premier Li Keqiang moved to alleviate concerns over China’s slowdown by reassuring that the government has the necessary policies to deal with the situation, including pushing ahead with infrastructure investment.
Further debt default fears have been added to by the slide in property sales, with investors worried that smaller and less resilient developers may be heading towards defaults.
Markets will also have the opportunity to respond to speeches from two important figures today: Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda will speak to lawmakers, amid a slowdown in factory output and the hike in sales tax tomorrow, and later, US fed chair Janet Yellen will speak in Chicago, ahead of payroll data later this week.
The Nikkei is currently up 0.6 per cent at 14,785, with China’s Hang Seng up 0.2 per cent at 22,106. South Korea’s Kospi is at 1,977, down 0.2 per cent, and the Sensex is up 0.3 per cent at 22,400.