Asian stocks rise while European shares turn negative ahead of crucial talks between US president, Ukrainian president and European leaders

The main economic event this week is the US Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole symposium in Kansas from Thursday until Saturday, whose theme is: ‘The policy implications of labour market transition’.

Fed chair Jerome Powell is due to the speak on the economic outlook and central bank policy.

Chair Powell will likely signal that risks to the employment and inflation mandates are coming into balance, setting up the Fed to resume returning policy rate to neutral.

But Powell will stop short of explicitly signalling a September rate cut, awaiting the August jobs and inflation reports. This would be fairly neutral for markets already fully pricing in a September cut.

Indices in Asia have benefited from a big pulse of positivity, with the Nikkei hitting fresh record levels. As more certainty has returned to corporate Japan, given that a new tariff regime has been agreed, it’s helped boost stocks.

The weaker yen has also been a positive force, given that it increases the value of profits made abroad. Car makers Toyota and Honda, as well as Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing, are among the biggest beneficiaries amid expectations that consumers overseas will keep snapping up their products given the greater clarity over pricing.

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