Investing.com - Tokyo share prices jumped on Monday as the yen weakened in response to comments from Fed Chair Janet Yellen last week, boosting earnings prospects for export-linked firms.
The Nikkei 225 surged 2.27%, while the Shanghai Composite fell 0.06% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was 0.37% lower.
In China the USD/CNY fell to its lowest in over a month as the yuan traded around 6.6748 against the greenback compared with the official closing price of 6.6688 on Friday, thes weakest since the official close of 6.6766 on July 26. At the weekend, China's National Development and Reform Commission made loud and clear the current bank deposit reserve ratio is too high and that there is significant room for long-term bond yields to decline.
"The current deposit reserve ratio of 16.5% is relatively high both compared with historical levels and to other countries. The benchmark deposit rate is not near a zero interest rate either. Maintaining a reasonably ample liquidity level and creating a reasonably accommodative monetary environment will help guide market interest rates lower," said Cao Yujin, a NDRC researcher who wrote the article, published in the news section of the NDRC website.
In the coming week in China data on the country's manufacturing sector are on the calendar, amid ongoing concerns over the health of the world's second biggest economy and in the U.K., traders will be awaiting reports on activity in the manufacturing and construction sectors for further indications on the continued effect that the Brexit decision is having on the economy. Markets in the U.K. are closed on Monday for a national holiday
U.S. stocks were mixed after the close on Friday, as gains in the Healthcare, Technology and Financials sectors led shares higher while losses in the Utilities, Telecoms and Basic Materials sectors led shares lower.
During a much-awaited speech at the Fed's Jackson Hole symposium Friday, Yellen said the case for U.S. interest rate hikes has “strengthened” in recent months due to improvements in the labor market and to expectations for solid economic growth.
However, she did not indicate when the Fed would act, saying that higher interest rates will depend on incoming economic data.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.29%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.16%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.13%.