SYDNEY: Asian stocks looked set for a choppy start on Monday after Beijing denied it was considering easing its zero COVID-19 policy, helping the dollar recover some losses while dealing a setback to commodities.
"With China going into winter, most analysts think a change in zero-COVID is unlikely until at least March." Some of that reversed early Monday, with the Aussie down 0.8 per cent at $0.6414 after jumping 3 per cent on Friday. The US dollar index bounced 0.6 per cent having dived almost 2 per cent at the end of last week.Aiding risk sentiment at the margin were reports the White House is privately encouraging Ukraine to signal an openness to negotiate with Russia.
There are at least seven Fed officials scheduled to speak this week, which will help refine the rate outlook with markets now narrowly leaning toward a half-point rate hike next month to 4.25 to 4.5 per cent. The market faces a major hurdle on Thursday when US consumer prices for October are released, with any upside surprise set to test hopes for a step down in Fed hikes.