• Asian stocks are displaying mixed signals led by respective developments.
• Chinese equities have failed to capitalize on the upside revision of GDP projections.
• This time, Fed Powell’s speech holds decent weightage as wage inflation has dropped.

Markets in the Asian domain are displaying mixed signals after a corrective move in S&P500 futures ahead of the speech from Federal Reserve (Fed) chair Jerome Powell, scheduled for Tuesday. The risk profile seems favoring safe-haven assets amid soaring anxiety among investors as Fed Powell’s speech may provide cues about likely monetary policy action for the February meeting.

This time, the Fed Powell’s speech holds decent weightage as the United States economy is facing a slowdown and wage inflation has been trimmed, which was acting as a major barrier for Fed policymakers in their vision towards price stability.

At the press time, Japan’s Nikkei225 jumped 0.70%, ChinaA50 eases 0.20%, Hang Seng dropped 0.24%, and Nifty50 slipped 0.52%.

Chinese stocks are displaying a subdued performance despite rising Gross Domestic Product (GDP) projections. Analysts at Morgan Stanley have raised their forecast for China’s GDP this year to above 5.0%. A note from Morgan Stanley states that the removal of barriers to the housing/property sectors and recovery from COVID zero will strengthen China's economic recovery, which will solidify starting from the second quarter of CY2023. It is worth noting that the Chinese administration is easing property and tech sector regulations.

Meanwhile, Japanese stocks have gained strength despite a lower-than-projected jump in Tokyo’s Consumer Price Index (CPI). The headline annual CPI has landed at 4.0% lower than the consensus of 4.5% but higher than the prior release of 3.8%. While the core CPI has remained in line with expectations at 2.7%. For further assistance, investors will keep an eye on the speech from Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda.

On the oil front, the oil price has extended its downside to near $74.50 as the Fed is not expected to trim the current pace of policy tightening despite a slowdown in economic activities in the United States. This may escalate recession fears ahead.