The Asian stock markets are looking at a slightly higher open on Tuesday following upbeat comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke – although profit taking may limit the overall upside after mostly solid gains in the previous sessions.
Bernanke on Monday downplayed speculation that the central bank plans to scale back its quantitative easing program in the next few months.
Although the minutes from the most recent policy meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee suggested that asset purchases may soon wind down, Bernanke insists the Fed will fully support the recovery until it is on firmer footing.
The major U.S. averages were mixed on Monday as the Dow added 18.89 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 13,507.32, while the NASDAQ dipped 8.13 points or 0.26 percent to close at 3,117.50 and the S&P 500 eased 1.37 points or 0.09 percent to end at 1,470.68.
The major European markets also were mixed on Monday as the DAX of Germany climbed 0.18 percent and the CAC 40 of France advanced 0.06 percent. The SMI of Switzerland gained 0.20 percent, but the FTSE 100 of the U.K. eased 0.12 percent.
The Asian markets were mostly higher on Monday as China’s Shanghai Composite surged 3.06 percent, while Indonesia spiked 1.78 percent, India’s Sensex jumped 1.23 percent, Thailand climbed 0.92 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.64 percent, New Zealand gathered 0.54 percent, South Korea’s KOSPI collected 0.52 percent, Australia gained 0.22 percent, Malaysia was up 0.11 percent, Taiwan added 0.06 percent and Singapore’s Straits Times shed 0.31 percent.
Japan was closed on Monday for Coming of Age Day, and will re-open today.
by RTT Staff Writer
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