Most Asian equities advanced after China’s top leaders signaled bolder stimulus next year as they seek to revive the world’s second-largest economy.

Benchmark stock indexes in China and Hong Kong both jumped at the open before paring gains, while those in Japan and South Korea also climbed. Iron ore rose the most in two months thanks to Beijing’s announcement as the country is a major importer of commodities. China’s sovereign bond yields sank to a record low.

President Xi Jinping’s decision-making Politburo vowed to embrace a “moderately loose” monetary policy in 2025, signaling more rate cuts ahead and shifting from a “prudent” strategy that’s held for nearly 14 years. Investors will now shift focus to China’s annual closed-door Central Economic Work Conference due later this week.

“What they’re really targeting now with this monetary loosing is something that will address the consumer, and that’s really the crux of where the problems have been,” Burns McKinney, a senior portfolio manager at NFJ Investment Group LLC, said on Bloomberg Television. “If they can do that, then they can really harness of a burgeoning and growing middle class in China.”

Chinese shares unwound some of their opening surge as investors awaited further details of the potential stimulus, while latest export data pointed to continued weakness. China’s exports in November rose 6.7% from last year, missing estimates, and imports saw a larger-than-expected drop.

The Australian dollar extended an intraday loss after the Reserve Bank of Australia kept interest rates on hold as economists forecast but said it’s gaining some confidence inflation pressures are easing.

US Treasuries were little changed in Asian trade, while the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index edged higher.

‘Tactical Opportunity’

Separately, Chinese manufacturers have begun limiting sales to the US and Europe of key components used to build unmanned aerial vehicles that have become a vital part of Ukraine’s defense. The moves are a prelude to broader export restrictions on drone parts that western officials expect Beijing to enforce in the new year, according to people who asked not to be identified.

Most investors will see the potential stimulus in China as a “tactical opportunity,” Tai Hui, chief Asia market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management, told Bloomberg Television. But the “underlying battle on export restrictions or export bans, those will continue to play a role in the Chinese economy,” he said.

Elsewhere in Asia, Korean equities headed for their first daily advance since last week’s short-lived martial law thrust the country into political turmoil. The Justice Ministry banned President Yoon Suk Yeol from traveling overseas as a series of probes put the embattled leader at risk of detention over his chaotic declaration of military rule.

In the US, the S&P 500 slipped from nearly overbought technical levels, following a series of all-time highs, with traders awaiting key inflation data that will help shape the outlook for Federal Reserve monetary policy. Nvidia Corp. slid as China opened a probe over suspicions the US chipmaker broke anti-monopoly laws around a 2020 deal.

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US data including Wednesday’s consumer price index will offer Fed officials a final look at the pricing environment ahead of their meeting the following week. Any indication that progress has stalled on the inflation front could well undercut the chances of a third straight reduction in rates.

Elsewhere in commodities, gold was supported by China’s central bank adding bullion to its reserves for the first time in seven months and as concerns about the Middle East bolstered haven demand. Crude oil prices slipped as traders remained focus on the uncertainty in Middle East amid geopolitical tensions even as China’s announcements limited the downside.

Key events this week:

  • Australia rate decision, Tuesday

  • US CPI, Wednesday

  • Canada rate decision, Wednesday

  • ECB rate decision, Thursday

  • US initial jobless claims, PPI, Thursday

  • Eurozone industrial production, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

  • S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 12:26 p.m. Tokyo time

  • Nikkei 225 futures (OSE) rose 0.1%

  • Japan’s Topix rose 0.1%

  • Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.5%

  • Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.1%

  • The Shanghai Composite rose 1.4%

  • Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 0.5%

Currencies

  • The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed

  • The euro was little changed at $1.0552

  • The Japanese yen was little changed at 151.23 per dollar

  • The offshore yuan rose 0.1% to 7.2567 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies

  • Bitcoin fell 1.2% to $95,815.7

  • Ether fell 2% to $3,626.41

Bonds

  • The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 4.19%

  • Japan’s 10-year yield advanced 2.5 basis points to 1.070%

  • Australia’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 4.22%

Commodities

  • West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.5% to $68.03 a barrel

  • Spot gold rose 0.2% to $2,666.55 an ounce

. Read more on Markets by NDTV Profit.Shares in Japan and South Korea gained, while futures showed the Hang Seng Index is poised to jump more than 3% at the open.  Read MoreMarkets, Bloomberg 

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