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Asian markets mixed as traders eye US jobs data


Bangladeshpost
Published : 04 May 2021 09:24 PM

AFP,  Hong Kong

Equity markets drifted in Asian trade Tuesday as investors bide their time ahead of the release of key US jobs figures later in the week.

While the Dow and S&P 500 on Wall Street provided a positive lead, there were few catalysts to drive business, with Tokyo and mainland China’s bourses closed for holidays.

Still, a top Federal Reserve official provided some welcome comments as he reiterated the bank’s intention to maintain its ultra-loose monetary policy for the foreseeable future even as he predicted the world’s top economy would grow at its quickest pace since the 1980s. In trying to soothe long-running fears that the expected burst of economic activity this year will fan inflation and force rate hikes, John Williams, president of the Fed’s influential New York branch, said “it’s important not to overreact to this volatility in prices”.

He added that a sharp rise in inflation was to be expected owing to the low base of comparison last year as the virus shut down the global economy, but that would soon ease back.

The latest snapshot of the economy comes Friday with the release of April jobs data, with some observers suggesting around one million positions created.