Market Drivers – Asian Session 14/10/2021

The Nikkei 225 rose 1.46% to close at 28,551. The broader TOPIX index rose 0.67% on Thursday, as Japanese technology heavyweights carried the index higher and following dovish comments from a BoJ board member.

Australian Bureau of Statistics data revealed that the labor market recorded a mixed performance during September, as unemployment rates decreased to positive levels, while employment in various sectors shrank more than market expectations, which negatively affected the movement of the Australian dollar during the Asian trading.

The employment change index recorded a contraction of 138.0 thousand jobs during the month of August, worse than the market expectations of a decline of about 108.5 thousand jobs only.

China’s consumer price index, the main inflation indicator, increased 0.7 percent year-on-year in September, according to official data published Thursday by the National Statistics Office. this is a 0.1 points decrease compared to the previous month’s, of 0.8% , and is again below that expected by analysts, who predicted an advance of about 0.9% for September.

The BOJ’s Noguchi said this morning that a reduction in monetary stimulus from the BOJ was not an option at the moment.

BOJ must maintain pandemic-relief lending programmes as long as there is a risk of another wave of covid infections.

When withdrawing pandemic-relief support, must ensure the move does not hamper the BOJ effort to hit  the 2% price goal.

BOJ may have little choice but to extend pandemic-relief support unless it becomes clear Japan’s economy can return to a pre-pandemic state.

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) monetary policy board member Asahi Noguchi said.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei said that it is “important to keep balance on the market” when asked if the OPEC and its allies should ramp up oil production more than what is planned..

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia was ready to provide more gas to Europe if requested, rejecting accusations that Moscow squeezes supplies for political motives.