European Shares Edge Higher On Rate Cut Hopes

The China stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, improving almost 90 points or 2.8 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,320-point plateau and it may add to its winnings again on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, supported by the oil, finance and technology sectors. The European and U.S. markets saw modest upside and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit. The SCI finished modestly higher again on Monday as gains from the properties and resource stocks were offset by weakness from the financial shares. For the day, the index added 18.50 points or 0.56 percent to finish at 3,322.17 after trading between 3,299.24 and 3,325.36. The Shenzhen Composite Index climbed 21.57 points or 1.08 percent to end at 2,017.81. Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China fell 0.30 percent, while Bank of China dipped 0.19 percent, China Merchants Bank collected 1.00 percent, China Life Insurance shed 0.54 percent, Jiangxi Copper added 0.42 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) improved 0.77 percent, Yankuang Energy lost 0.67 percent, PetroChina slipped 0.36 percent, China Shenhua Energy and Huaneng Power both sank 0.77 percent, Gemdale gained 0.42 percent, Poly Developments perked 0.24 percent and China Vanke, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China and China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) were unchanged.

The Taiwan stock market on Monday wrote a finish to the four-day winning streak in which it had spiked more than 760 points or 3.4 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 23,250-point plateau although it may see renewed support on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, supported by the oil, finance and technology sectors. The European and U.S. markets saw modest upside and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The Singapore stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, collecting almost 60 points or 1.7 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now sits just above the 3,875-point plateau and it's likely to open to the upside again on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, supported by the oil, finance and technology sectors. The European and U.S. markets saw modest upside and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit. The STI finished modestly higher on Monday as gains from the financials and telecoms were offset by weakness from the industrials and properties. For the day, the index added 13.71 points or 0.36 percent to finish at 3,875.13 after trading between 3,872.98 and 3,921.30. Among the actives, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust gathered 0.51 percent, while CapitaLand Investment tanked 1.99 percent, City Developments dipped 0.40 percent, DBS Group jumped 1.57 percent, DFI Retail gained 0.85 percent, Genting Singapore rose 0.68 percent, Hongkong Land plummeted 3.67 percent, Keppel DC REIT sank 0.91 percent, Keppel Ltd fell 0.74 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust shed 0.83 percent, Mapletree Logistics Trust lost 0.81 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.35 percent, SATS stumbled 1.82 percent, Seatrium Limited slumped 0.93 percent, SembCorp Industries dropped 0.92 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering plunged 2.00 percent, SingTel advanced 0.91 percent, Thai Beverage retreated 0.97 percent, Venture Corporation rallied 1.91 percent, Wilmar International and Jardine Matheson both eased 0.30 percent, Yangzijiang Financial spiked 2.11 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding slid 0.66 percent and Comfort DelGro, Emperador, Mapletree Industrial Trust and UOL Group were unchanged.

Despite U.S. President Donald Trump's fresh tariff threats, the Canadian market stayed positive on Monday and closed on a strong note, as higher commodity prices and expectations of more monetary easing by a few central banks helped underpin sentiment.

The South Korea stock market has moved lower in back-to-back sessions, giving away more than 15 points or 0.6 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,520-point plateau although it may find support on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, supported by the oil, finance and technology sectors. The European and U.S. markets saw modest upside and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit. The KOSPI finished barely lower on Monday following losses from the industrials and mixed performances from the financial shares and technology stocks. For the day, the index eased 0.65 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 2,521.27 after trading between 2,499.18 and 2,527.33. Volume was 386.81 million shares worth 10.38 trillion won. There were 454 decliners and 414 gainers. Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.30 percent, while KB Financial retreated 1.28 percent, Hana Financial slumped 1.46 percent, Samsung Electronics rallied 3.54 percent, Samsung SDI improved 0.72 percent, LG Electronics lost 0.63 percent, SK Hynix stumbled 2.41 percent, Naver advanced 0.89 percent, LG Chem jumped 1.81 percent, Lotte Chemical weakened 1.65 percent, SK Innovation dipped 0.26 percent, POSCO Holdings sank 0.84 percent, SK Telecom fell 0.36 percent, KEPCO was down 0.24 percent, Hyundai Mobis eased 0.20 percent, Hyundai Motor shed 0.55 percent and Kia Motors tumbled 1.97 percent.

The U.S. dollar gained against its major counterparts on Monday amid concerns about inflation and slightly fading hopes of more interest rate cuts by the Fed following new tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump.

American households' expectations of inflation in five years increased in January, while their spending growth hopes fell to the lowest level in four years, results of a survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York showed on Monday.

Despite U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff threats, the Canadian markets remains firmly placed in positive territory Monday afternoon with stocks from across several sectors moving higher on strong buying support. Higher commodity prices and expectations of more monetary easing by several central banks appear to be prompting investors to pick up stocks.