Asian Shares Rise As Powell Signals Rate Cuts

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks rose broadly on Monday as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's dovish signals at the Jackson Hole symposium opened the door to an interest rate cut next month.

Fed fund futures currently price in an 84 percent chance of a quarter-point rate cut in September, and at least 100 basis points of easing to 3.25-3.5 percent by the middle of next year.

Investors also awaited Nvidia's earnings results due this week that could help justify the sector's stratospheric valuations.

Chinese shares jumped on easing trade tensions and hopes for more policy support. The Shanghai Composite index rallied 1.51 percent to 3,883.56. setting a new decade high. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index climbed 1.94 percent to 25,829.91, led by technology stocks.

Japanese markets eked out modest gains, boosted by tech stocks on optimism for looser monetary policy in the United States.

The Nikkei average rose 0.41 percent to 42,807.82, extending gains for a second consecutive session. The broader Topix index settled 0.15 percent higher at 3,105.49.

Technology investor SoftBank Group rallied 3.5 percent after the Trump administration said it would take a 9.9 percent stake in Intel for $8.9 billion.

Bathroom fixture manufacturer TOTO surged 8.4 percent after announcing plans to invest 30 billion yen to expand its factory in Morrow, Georgia.

Seoul stocks rose for a third day running, with nuclear energy, chip and pharmaceutical shares surging ahead of a key summit between Seoul and Washington. The Kospi average climbed 1.30 percent to 3,209.86.

Australian markets finished marginally higher as retailers fell ahead of their earnings results, offsetting gains in the mining and financial sectors.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 ended little changed at 8,972.40, giving up early gains after rising nearly 1 percent to a record high in initial trade. The broader All Ordinaries index edged up by 0.12 percent to 9,245.

Across the Atlantic, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index rose 0.28 percent to 13,079.50 after data showed retail sales in the country, a measure of consumer spending, unexpectedly increased in the second quarter.

Gold dipped from a two-week high in Asian trade as the dollar recovered from the intense selloff seen in the New York session on Friday. Oil edged up amid supply concerns.

U.S. stocks surged on Friday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that economic risks are 'shifting' and a rate cut may be warranted.

He added that "risks to inflation are tilted to the upside, and risks to employment to the downside — a challenging situation".

The Dow jumped 1.9 percent to reach a new record closing high while the S&P 500 rallied 1.5 percent to snap a five-day losing streak and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.9 percent.