Asian stocks cheered by China stimulus; Nikkei near 33-yr peak

© Reuters.

Investing.com-- Most Asian stocks rose on Monday, tracking a rebound in Chinese markets on the promise of more government stimulus measures, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 briefly hit an over 30-year high. 

But gains were still limited in anticipation of more cues from the Federal Reserve this week, while technology stocks were on edge as markets awaited key quarterly earnings from NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) on Tuesday.

An interest rate decision in China appeared to have provided few cues to markets, as the People’s Bank of China kept its loan prime rate near record lows, as widely expected. The PBOC also injected about 80 billion yuan of liquidity into markets. 

But Chinese stocks were supported by a rebound in property stocks, after Chinese regulators vowed to provide more policy support to the beleaguered real estate sector.

China’s Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite trimmed a bulk of early losses to rise 0.5% each, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng surged 1.6%, rebounding from two days of steep losses. 

Australia’s ASX 200 rose 0.2%, supported by some strength in commodity stocks. Focus was now on the minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s November meeting for more cues on monetary policy, after the bank raised interest rates but offered a somewhat dovish outlook. 

Broader Asian markets were also cautious before the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s late-October meeting, which were due on Tuesday. The minutes are expected to offer more cues on the path of U.S. interest rates, after the central bank kept rates steady in October.

Still, a slew of recent readings on the labor market and inflation suggested that the Fed was done raising interest rates, which in turn boosted Asian stocks over the past week.

South Korea’s KOSPI rose 0.7%, while futures for India’s Nifty 50 index pointed to a muted open. 

Nikkei hits 33-year high on earnings, BOJ hopes 

Japan’s Nikkei 225 was flat on Monday, after briefly touching its highest levels since 1990.

Japanese stocks were boosted by several strong earnings this month, while foreign investors piled into the region on the prospect of a persistently dovish Bank of Japan.

The BOJ is the only major central bank to still retain an ultra-loose stance, with its asset buying and quantitative control measures drawing a slew of buyers into Japanese stocks. 

Asian chipmakers keep Nvidia in sight

Asian chipmaking stocks were on edge on Monday, ahead of Nvidia’s quarterly earnings due on Tuesday. 

Japan’s Advantest Corp. (TYO:6857)- which supplies chip testing equipment to Nvidia- fell 0.2%, while South Korea’s SK Hynix Inc (KS:000660), which supplies memory chips, rose 1%. 

TSMC (TW:2330) (NYSE:TSM)- the world’s largest contract chipmaker and another major Nvidia supplier- fell 0.5% in Taiwan trade.

Focus will be squarely on whether Nvidia was able to maintain its strong earnings momentum through the third quarter. The firm is also expected to provide more cues on an AI-fueled bump in demand, especially given that several other major chipmakers- including TSMC and SK Hynix- recently warned of slowing demand.