Hong Kong
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Asia-Pacific markets were mixed Monday after New York Federal Reserve President John Williams signaled a third rate cut was a possibility this year.
On Friday, Williams suggested the Fed could lower its key interest rate as labor market weakness poses a bigger economic threat than higher inflation.
The Fed has just one meeting left for 2025, which will take place on Dec. 9-10 stateside. The target rate is currently at 3.75% to 4.00%.
Fed funds futures are pricing in around a 70% chance for a quarter-percentage-point cut, according to the CME FedWatch tool, up from about 44% during the week through Nov. 14.
Last week, Asian markets had declined across the board as traders fled from tech stocks, with heavyweights such as Softbank, Samsung Electronics and Baidu clocking losses.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 1.83%, boosted by tech and healthcare stocks, while mainland China’s CSI 300 fell 0.14%.
South Korea’s markets turned negative after rising earlier in the session. The Kospi closed 0.19% lower at 3,846.06, while the small-cap Kosdaq fell 0.87% to 856.44. Kospi heavyweight Samsung Electronics rose 2%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.29% to 8,525.1, rebounding from a 1.59% loss on Friday.
On Monday, shares of logistics group Qube climbed nearly 20% after Macquarie Asset Management made an offer of 11.6 billion Australian dollars ($7.49 billion) to acquire the firm.
Mining giant BHP rose about 0.62% after the company announced it was no longer considering a merger with British miner Anglo American.
Japan’s markets were closed for a public holiday.
On Friday in the U.S., all three major indexes posted a rebound, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 1.08%, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.88% and the S&P 500 finished 0.98% higher.
—CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Pia Singh contributed to this report.
