Asia's major stock markets were cautious on Monday, while the dollar and bond yields weakened as investors awaited inflation data that could signal possible interest rate cuts in the United States and Europe.
Meanwhile, oil prices rose 0.7 percent after renewed fighting between Israel and Hezbollah sparked fears of possible supply disruptions. Brent crude rose 51 cents to $79.52 a barrel, while U.S. crude rose 50 cents to $75.33 a barrel, News.Az reported citing Reuters.
Investors are anxiously awaiting earnings from AI darling Nvidia on Wednesday to see whether it can live up to sky-high expectations.
The company's shares have risen about 150% since the beginning of the year, accounting for about a quarter of the S&P 500's 17% gain so far this year.
That means Nvidia would need to report revenue of more than $30 billion and project third-quarter revenue of more than $33 billion, he added.
Both S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures were roughly flat in weak trading on Monday.
EUROSTOXX 50 futures were down 0.3% and FTSE futures were closed for the holiday.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares ex-Japan rose 0.6 percent after rising 1.1 percent last week, while South Korea lost 0.2 percent. Chinese blue chips lost 0.4 percent.
Japan's Nikkei average fell 0.8 percent as a stronger yen pressured export shares.
The yen surged on a broader weakening dollar after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said it was time to start easing monetary policy and stressed that he did not want to allow the labor market to weaken further.
News.AZ
