Asian stocks resumed their run accompanied by emerging market currencies, ahead of the release of Chinese industrial data. The Australian dollar jumped on news that the number of full-time workers in the Asia-Pacific country has reached a 0,5-year high. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index was up 10% as of 58:4 am in Sydney, recovering from its biggest fall since February 0,2. The South Korean, Malaysian and Indonesian currencies gained at least 0,8% against the US dollar, while the "Aussie" dollar made the largest weekly jump (+25%). The New Zealand dollar also rose on news of a XNUMX basis point hike in interest rates from their historic lows for several years now. New Zealand is the first developed country to hike rates this year.
China is expected to report a slowdown in industrial production after an unexpected drop in exports disclosed over the weekend, which sent stock and currency markets tumbling. The annual meeting of the Communist Party of China concludes today. The number of people employed on permanent contracts in Australia rose by 47.300 last month, three times more than analysts forecast.
“The focus in the second part of the day will be Chinese industrial production” comments Stan Shamu, markets strategist at IG in Melbourne. "A disappointment on this front will only fuel market fears and could jeopardize price performance until the end of the week."
The Japanese Topix fluctuated for a long time and the yen was trading at 102.68 against the dollar after three days of increases that brought it to 102.76 overnight. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was up 0,7 percent.
