FX.co ★ Japanese and Australian indicators continue to rise

The Japanese and Australian indices were up to 1.6%. The Australian S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.45% and the Japanese Nikkei 225 added 1.59%. In China, Hong Kong, and Korea, exchanges are not operating due to the New Year holidays.

However, at the end of last week, other Asian indicators also demonstrated growth. The Korean KOSPI was up 0.63%. China's Shenzhen Composite and Shanghai Composite indices rose slightly more, gaining 0.65% and 0.76% respectively. Hong Kong Hang Seng Index increased by 1.82%.

One of the main reasons for the positive sentiment was the increase in US indicators yesterday. The US investors' optimism, in turn, was caused by the upcoming meeting of the US Federal Reserve, which will take place next week.

According to the forecasts, the majority of experts think that the interest rate can be increased by 25 basis points to 4.5-4.75%. This is possible due to an active reduction in the growth rate of consumer prices in the country.

In Japan, preliminary data showed that the Manufacturing PMI remained unchanged at 48.9 points. This is the lowest level of this indicator for more than two years.

At the same time, the Services PMI rose to 52.4 points from December's reading of 51.1 points. As a result, the PMI Composite jumped to 50.8 points from the December level of 49.7 points.

The Japanese Nikkei 225 index was boosted by Ebara, up 5.9%, Konica Minolta, up 4.4%, and GS Yuasa, up 4.1%.

Advantest and SoftBank Group increased slightly less by 3.4% and 3%, respectively. Tokyo Electron added 2.4%, Recruit Holdings gained 1.6% as well as Keyence increased by 0.9%.

Nissan Motor and Sony were up 1.8% and 1.7%, respectively. Toyota Motor added 1.2%, Nintendo jumped by 0.6%, and Fast Retailing was up 0.04%.

In Australia, the business confidence indicator increased by 3 points, reaching -1 point. This is the second month in a row when the indicator is negative.

Among the components of the Australian S&P/ASX 200, Codan, Ltd. demonstrated the biggest increase in the value of its securities, with its shares going up 17.9%.

BHP also rose by 0.6%, Rio Tinto gained 0.8%, and Treasury Wine Estates added 0.07%.

Due to traders' doubts about the sufficiency of funds for Zip, Co. to reach a profitable level, the value of its securities fell sharply by 15.6%.