Asian stocks mixed at open, oil drops on OPEC+

Asian stocks moved in a tight range at the open, as losses in Japan were offset by gains across the region.

The Nikkei-225 index fell 0.7% while shares in South Korea and Australia advanced. Equity-index futures for US stocks advanced 0.2%, indicating Friday’s momentum may continue. A gauge of the dollar was steady as traders monitored the threat of a possible US government shutdown.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down 1% early Monday as people familiar with the plans said that OPEC+ will weigh a November supply increase exceeding the 137,000 barrel-a-day hike scheduled for October.

In the US, top congressional leaders plan to meet with President Donald Trump on Monday, a day before federal funding would expire if an agreement on a short-term spending bill can’t be reached. A shutdown would threaten the release of key data including Friday’s payrolls report, key to assessing whether the Federal Reserve will continue cutting interest rates next month.

“If we hear early this week that the NFP report will be delayed, traders may recalibrate their approach to risk and increase their sensitivity” to other employment data, Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone Group, wrote in a note to clients.

US stocks saw dip buying on Friday while the Treasury yield curve marginally steepened as the personal consumption expenditures price index, the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation, came in as expected. Traders maintained expectations of a high likelihood the central bank will cut the funds rate again next month in a bid to help bolster a cooling labor market, according to swaps data compiled by Bloomberg.

Focus in Asia will shift to Chinese equities amid signs policies to address overcapacity and deflation in the economy are taking hold ahead of the Golden Week holiday that begins Wednesday.

Chinese Industrial profits in August climbed 20.4% from a year earlier, the first increase in four months, according to data released Saturday by the National Bureau of Statistics. Factory deflation eased for the first time in six months.

Elsewhere this week, the Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to keep interest rates on hold, with traders parsing Governor Michele Bullock’s comments for clues to whether the central bank will cut again. Chinese factory and services activity readings are due as well as the Reserve Bank of India policy decision.

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