증시 대담
It's time now for an in-depth look at the global markets this afternoon.
And for that, I'm joined on the line by Dr. Hwang Sei-woon, research fellow at the Korea Capital Market Institute.
Dr. Hwang, thank you for joining us, as always.
Thank you.
Last week was a good one for Wall Street and Asia as well. The main indexes were mostly higher on Friday. Here in Korea, we're starting the week mixed. What's the story today?
In Wall Street, stocks closed mixed Friday after the release of disappointing jobs data but posted back-to-back weekly gains on optimism around U.S.-China trade relations. For the week, the Dow and S&P 500 both gained at least 1.5%, while the Nasdaq climbed 1.8%. Those gains came amid hopes that the world’s two largest economies could soon make substantial progress in de-escalating their protracted trade dispute. Hope of progress between China and the U.S. offset worries surrounding the economy.
Asian stocks eked out modest gains on Monday, amid a cautious market mood as investors pinned expectations on likely stimulus to support growth in the world’s major economies, which showed further signs of struggle. Asian equity markets received a lift after China’s central bank said on Friday it was cutting the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves. However, gains were tempered in the wake of lackluster economic data. South Korea's KOSPI rose 0.62%, Japan's Nikkei was up 0.48%, and Hong Kong’s Hangseng gained 0.05% today.
Let's look ahead at what's to come this week around the world. In Europe there's a monetary policy meeting on Thursday. What else should we watch?
The European Central Bank will hold a monetary policy meeting on Thursday. ECB is widely expected to cut the benchmark interest rate and review all of the options including QE. Policy makers will also publish forecasts for growth and inflation. ECB President Mario Draghi will hold a press conference after the meeting.
In U.K., the Parliament may be suspended as soon as Monday, and a bill blocking a no-deal Brexit could become law. That bill would derail Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s strategy and could trigger the opposition Labour Party to agree to a general election.
In the U.S., August wholesale and consumer price figures due out on Wednesday. The U.S. CPI grew 0.3% in July, and is expected to grow at the similar number in August. At the end of the week, August retail sales and September consumer sentiment figures will have an impact on the market.
We're coming up on the Chuseok holiday this Thursday and Friday. Ahead of that we'll get a key monthly report on public finances from the finance ministry, and then Statistics Korea will have last month's employment data. What's happening this week domestically?
We have a few domestic economic events this week, but overall impact on the market is not likely to be as significant as that from events abroad. The Monthly Public Finance published by the Ministry of Economy and Finance will be released on Tuesday.
