Trading in the Australian stock market was paused on Monday afternoon and the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has not provided an indication of when it will resume. The exchange had also experienced a delayed start due to a technical glitch which was reportedly related to a component that allows the ASX to manage individual stocks. The halt comes on the heels of a positive trading day in Asia which is thought to be spurred by a rise in oil prices due to talks of an OPEC deal and fighting that has been reported in Libyan oil ports. Traders are also remaining cautiously optimistic as they wait for the policy decisions expected later this week from both the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan. A surprising report of U.S. consumer price inflation on Friday reduced fears of a September rate hike by the Fed and sent the dollar broadly higher.
Expectations in Asia
Analysts continue to expect an announcement of monetary easing coming from the Bank of Japan on Wednesday, though the actual policy plan has not been announced. The dollar hit 102.08 yen during Monday’s Asian session, erasing some of Friday’s gains as a result of the inflation numbers that were released after Friday’s Asian session. The Japanese markets were closed today for a national holiday.
The euro was at $1.164 on Monday, just above a 10-day low while the British pound inched just above a 30-day low to $1.3033 after British Prime Minister Theresa May announced that solid Brexit plans may begin as early as January or February 2017.