Stock market today: Asian stocks gain ahead of US and Japan rate decisions

HONG KONG — Asian shares advanced on Monday ahead of this week’s policy decisions by the Japanese central bank and the Federal Reserve.

Oil prices and US futures rose.

Chinese data for the January-February period were mixed, with real estate investment declining while other indicators improved.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index rose 2.4% to 39,639.27. Markets are awaiting a decision from the Bank of Japan on Tuesday on whether to raise interest rates for the first time in seventeen years. Since 2016, the rate has been minus 0.1%.

Signs that employers are planning big wage increases appear to have prompted the central bank to finally move away from the massive monetary easing deployed over many years to boost growth in a country where the population is rapidly declining and aging. The last interest rate increase was seventeen years ago.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was flat at 16,720.40, and the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.5% to 3,069.67.

Elsewhere, the Australian S&The P/ASX 200 was unchanged at 7,670.60, while South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.6% to 2,681.26.

In India the Sensex was unchanged and in Bangkok the SET rose 0.5%.

On Friday, Wall Street completed its second straight losing week, giving back some of the gains that helped the stock market reach a record high earlier this week.

The S&P500 fell 0.6% to 5,117.09. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5% to 38,714.77, while the Nasdaq composite finished 1% lower at 15,973.17.

Technology stocks retreated. Software maker Adobe fell 13.7% after giving investors a weak revenue forecast. Microsoft fell 2.1% and Broadcom lost 2.1%.

Communications services stocks also helped drag the market down. Meta Platforms fell 1.6% and Google parent company Alphabet fell 1.3%.

The latest decline for stocks came as traders examined several reports showing that inflation, while generally cooling, remains stubborn.

A closely watched report from the University of Michigan found that consumer confidence unexpectedly fell in March.

Inflation remains the big concern for Wall Street amid hopes that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates. The Fed has raised rates sharply starting in 2022 in an effort to bring inflation back to its 2% target. Inflation at consumer level was as high as 9.1% in 2022.

A consumer prices report last week showed inflation remains stubborn, rising to 3.2% in February from 3.1% in January. Another report on wholesale prices also showed that inflation remains higher than Wall Street expected.

Other reports this week showed some weakening in the economy, boosting hopes for further relief in long-term inflation.

A rally for stocks that started in October has largely stalled this month as investors wonder about the future path for inflation, the Fed and the economy.

Fed officials will give their latest forecasts on where they see interest rates going this year after their final policy meeting on Wednesday. Traders are still leaning towards a rate cut in June, according to data from CME Group. The Fed’s key interest rate remains at its highest level since 2001.

In other trading, U.S. benchmark crude added 36 cents to $81.40 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 31 cents to $85.65 a barrel.

The US dollar rose from 149.03 yen to 149.12 Japanese yen. The euro fell from $1.0889 to $1.0887.