Asia equities are trading mixed after no trading day in Wall Street, which was closed for US Labour Day and with the sentiment tentative ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia monetary policy decision. Participants will keep a close eye on the taper decision as the Bank stated in the July meeting that they planned to proceed with tapering due to the “resumption of strong growth in 2022”, but recent lockdowns could weigh on the current outlook.
Chinese trade data is also on the radar, where traders expect a soft reading amid port bottleneck caused by COVID-19 infections and global consumption of goods towards services in G10 economies after the reopening due to vaccine rollouts.
This week’s main focus will be on Thursday’s European Central Bank meeting, where attention will be on whether the policymakers start to taper back their asset purchases, especially in light of recent stronger-than-expected inflation data. US President Biden could determine who the next Fed Chair is around this week.
