Most Asian markets fall after strong US data, eyes on inflation

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HONG KONG – Asian markets mostly fell Monday after a forecast-busting jobs report dampened US interest rate cut hopes, with attention now turning to the release of key inflation data this week.
The selling followed a retreat in all three main indexes on Wall Street, while investors lowered their expectations for how many cuts the Federal Reserve would make this year.
However, analysts said that while the jobs figures were bigger than hoped, they would not likely cause policymakers to hold off lowering borrowing costs as unemployment ticked up to a two-year high.
The reading “didn’t necessarily amount to an ‘all-clear’ signal for the Fed, but there also didn’t appear to be anything in it that would derail its plan to cut rates”, said Chris Larkin of E*Trade from Morgan Stanley.
Traders are now factoring in three rate cuts this year, compared with six that were pencilled in three months ago.
The latest reading on the consumer price index on Tuesday is now in traders’ view.
In early trade, Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Wellington, Taipei and Manila were all in negative territory.
Hong Kong extended Friday’s gains and Shanghai fluctuated following figures showing a bigger-than-forecast jump in Chinese consumer prices last month.
Bitcoin fell slightly, having hit a fresh record high above $70,000 for the first time on Friday as demand picks up and traders grow optimistic about the prospect of interest rates coming down this year.