The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.4 percent by 9:10 a.m. in Tokyo, rising from an almost three-week low as Japan’s Topix Index (TPX) climbed 0.5 percent. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX) futures were little changed after the gauge gained 0.4 percent in the U.S. Crude in New York traded near the lowest level since June while copper futures rallied 0.5 percent. Australia’s dollar maintained yesterday’s gains against the greenback before an interest-rate review and the South Korean won strengthened.
Australia’s central bank will probably keep key rates at a record-low 2.5 percent today, according to a Bloomberg survey, while HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics publish their China services index after an official non-manufacturing gauge rose to the highest level this year. In the U.S., the Institute for Supply Management issues its non-factory measure for October. An index of commodity prices sank to a four-month low in New York yesterday as copper and natural gas drove declines.
“We’ve still got very easy monetary conditions and lots of investors sitting on the sidelines in cash still getting very low returns,” Shane Oliver, the Sydney-based head of investment strategy at AMP Capital Investors Ltd., which has about $130 billion under management, said by phone. “Equities remain the place to be.”
The S&P/ASX 200 Index (AS51) jumped 0.7 percent, also halting a three-day decline, while the Kospi Index added 0.1 percent inSeoul as iron and metal producers gained with transportation equipment stocks.