Nikkei jumps 1% as Yen slumps on sales tax news

A firmer closing on the Wall Street overnight coupled with increased odds of a June/July Fed rate hike boosted the sentiment around the Asian equity markets, with the Japanese stocks leading the risk-on rally witnessed in Asia at present.

In the day ahead, thin trades and limited volatility is expected to persist as the American markets are closed today in observance of Memorial Day holiday. While the main highlight for this week remains the US non-farm payrolls data, which likely to provide fresh insights on the US economic strength and Fed rate hike prospects this year.

Nikkei jumps as USD/JPY rises to five-week lows

The Japanese benchmark index, the Nikkei 225 now jumps +1.03% and regains 17k mark as USD/JPY hits fresh five-week highs just ahead of 111 handle, as markets weigh reports that Abe is likely to delay sales tax hike by 2.5 years. Australia’s ASX 200 index trades 0.08% higher, with steep losses in the gold miners keeping the gains capped in the index. Gold prices dropped to fresh 2-month lows to 1200 mark after Friday’s hawkish comments from Fed Chair Yellen.

While the Chinese equities are seen trading with moderate gains, tracking their Asian counterparts higher. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index now gains +0.18%, the CSI300 index is also up 0.18%. Hong Kong Hang Seng rises 0.65% to 20,711 points.