Sydney Opera House, designed by Danish architect Mr Jorn Oberg Utzon, at first light as the sun rises over Sydney harbor and city center skyscrapers.
Ucg | Universal Images Group | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets traded mostly higher Monday as investors appeared to look past the latest tariff developments.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.71%.
The Reserve Bank of Australia was set to kickstart its two-day policy meeting where it is expected to hold its cash rate steady at 3.6%, according to a Reuters poll.
“The RBA are likely to find themselves in a tougher position than recent meetings. There is real tension building in the data flow,” the Commonwealth Bank of Australia wrote in a note, citing how the country’s August CPI indicates “material upside risks to Q3 inflation” as well as a a cyclical upswing in the activity data. However, CBA’s economists also pointed to signs of softer employment and moderating wages growth.
South Korea’s Kospi added 1.25%, recovering from its steep fall Friday on uncertainty over trade talks with Washington. The small-cap Kosdaq was 1.29% higher.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.84%, and the Topix declined 1.57%, after hitting a record high Friday. Sony Financial Group rose 36% on market debut compared to its reference price, after parent company Sony Group spun off the financial division.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jumped 1.19% at the open, while the Hang Seng Tech Index advanced 1.5%. Mainland’s CSI 300 was flat.
On Friday stateside, the three major averages climbed following the release of crucial U.S. inflation data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 299.97 points, or 0.65%, to close at 46,247.29. The S&P 500 added 0.59% to close at 6,643.70, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.44% to settle at 22,484.07.
Friday’s rally snapped a three-day losing streak for the major indexes, but still ended the week down. The Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 slid 0.7% and 0.3%, marking each index’s first losing week in four. The Dow shed 0.2%.
—CNBC’s Pia Singh and Sean Conlon contributed to this report.
