ASIAN STOCK MARKET: ASX 200 PARES RBA-LED LOSSES, BSE SENSEX ADDS 1.5% ON INDIA BUDGET

• Asia-Pacific markets remain mixed amid off in China, Hong Kong.
• Sluggish yields, mixed concern over inflation add to the trading filters.
• Australia’s ASX 200 regains on RBA’s cautious optimism, India’s BSE Sensex cheers government spending plans.

Markets in the Asia-Pacific region remained mostly sluggish, except for Australia and India, as the absence of traders from China and Hong Kong joins mixed concerns over inflation ahead of the key weekly events.

While portraying the mood, MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares ex-Japan rises 0.20% intraday whereas Japan’s Nikkei 225 adds 0.30% intraday heading into Tuesday’s European session.

It’s worth noting that the Fed policymakers’ hesitance in supporting the rate hike trajectory, despite conveying inflation fears, joins comments from the OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann and WTO Head, signaling easing price pressure, portray indecisive markets.

Alternatively, Australia’s ASX 200 initially dropped heavily as the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) end the A$350 billion bond-buying program. However, the rethink on the outcome and the Aussie central bank’s rejection of the immediate rate hike concerns renew upside momentum. As a result, the stated Aussie equity gauge rises 0.30% at the latest.

On the other hand, India’s BSE Sensex rises around 1.5% intraday stay in the top-tier gains of the region as the Indian government tries to please voters with heavy spending. Among the key developments were Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s hawkish GDP expectations. “The government has projected growth at 8% to 8.5% compared with an estimated 9.2% for the current fiscal year and a 6.6% contraction the previous year,” said Reuters.

“For the next fiscal year starting in April, the government aims for a total capital spending of 7.50 trillion rupees ($101 billion), up from 5.54 trillion rupees planned for this fiscal year,” adds Indian FinMin Sitharaman while suggesting that the outlay will be 2.9% of the GDP.

Elsewhere, stocks in New Zealand were up 1.4% amid upbeat trade numbers while the market in South Korea was off.

Moving on, the US ISM Manufacturing PMI for January, expected 57.5 versus 58.7 prior, will be important for the immediate direction ahead of ECB, BOE and Friday’s US NFP. However, major attention will be given to the Fedspeak and developments concerning Russia.