Asian stocks muted as rate cut hopes wane; China reopens higher By Investing.com

Investing.com– Most Asian stocks kept to a tight range on Monday, tracking weakness in Wall Street as stronger-than-expected inflation data fueled more fears of higher-for-longer U.S. interest rates.

Wall Street indexes fell on Friday after data showed U.S. inflation grew more than expected in January. The reading, which came just days after stronger-than-expected inflation data, saw traders further price out the chances of early interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year. 

, and futures rose mildly in Asian trade, with focus turning to key earnings reports from NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:) and Walmart Inc (NYSE:), due later in the week. U.S. markets were set to remain closed on Monday for a national holiday.

China reopens higher, but recovery doubts remain

Chinese markets reopened higher after a week-long holiday, but saw limited gains. China’s and indexes rose 0.5% and 1%, respectively, recovering further from multi-year lows hit earlier in 2024. 

On the other hand, Hong Kong’s index was the worst performer in Asia on Monday, sliding 1.1% after anticipation of the Chinese reopening triggered strong gains on Friday. 

Official data released over the past week showed that consumer spending rose sharply during the week-long Lunar New Year holiday, while travel demand surpassed pre-COVID levels. 

But whether this was a flash in the pan, or the beginning of a strong recovery, remained to be seen. Economic data released before the holiday had shown the Chinese economy remained under pressure from weak business activity and a growing deflationary trend. 

Focus this week is on the People’s Bank of China’s benchmark , which the central bank is widely expected to keep unchanged at record lows.

Other Asian markets moved in a flat-to-low range. Japan’s fell 0.3% amid some profit-taking, but remained within sight of record highs.

Videogame giant Nintendo Co Ltd (TYO:) sank 6.2% after Bloomberg reported a delay in the release of a successor to its wildly successful Switch (NYSE:) console, to 2025 from 2024. 

Australia’s was flat, while South Korea’s rose 0.8%, buoyed chiefly by heavyweight chipmaking stocks. 

Memory chip maker SK Hynix Inc (KS:) rose nearly 4%, briefly hitting a record high on bets that it will benefit greatly from a boom in AI development over the coming months. 

Most Southeast Asian bourses were flat, while futures for India’s index pointed to a muted open, in line with limited moves across broader Asia.