Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 1.4% and a sub-index of mainland property shares soared 3.6% after China’s securities regulator said it will fully suspend the lending of restricted shares
Chinese equities led a rally in Asian stocks to start the week, after regulators took further steps over the weekend to support the market.
Oil jumped after a step-up in Middle East violence, as an attack caused a fire on a fuel tanker in the Red Sea.
The dollar and U.S. Treasury yields hovered in the middle of recent ranges ahead of a highly expected Fed policy meeting later in the week.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 1.4% and a sub-index of mainland property shares soared 3.6% after China’s securities regulator said on Sunday that it will fully suspend the lending of restricted shares.
Regional stocks had already started the day on a strong note, but extended gains after the Hong Kong open, with Japan’s Nikkei adding 0.8% and South Korea’s Kospi gaining 1.2%, while Australia’s stock benchmark advanced 0.4%.
Mainland China blue chips, however, were little changed after seesawing in early trade.
U.S. stock futures pointed 0.1% lower after the S&P 500 slid 0.07% on Friday to snap a five-day streak of setting new all-time closing highs, although it marked a new intraday record during that session.
The backdrop for that was a continued moderation in consumer inflation in Friday’s data, which added to the narrative for Fed rate cuts in coming months, but also indicated policy makers had little pressure to rush.
Markets expect the Federal Reserve to keep policy steady on Wednesday, but will be hunting for hints on when a first rate cut might come. Economists mostly forecast June, but traders are pricing the risk of a March move at essentially a coin toss, shows the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.