Asian stock markets were mixed on the morning of September 2, as investors braced for a week of key economic data releases.
At 10:00 a.m., the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo (Japan) increased by 62.13 points, or 0.16%, to 38,709.88 points, after increasing by 8.7% last week.
Meanwhile, in China, the Shanghai Composite Index in Shanghai fell 15.58 points, or 0.55%, to 2,826.64 points. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong lost 294.31 points, or 1.64%, to 17,694.76 points. Leading the decline in China was the real estate sector, after a survey showed that home price growth had slowed.
The US dollar is holding on to gains after upbeat US spending data prompted markets to lower expectations of a 0.5 percentage point rate cut by the Federal Reserve at its meeting this month.
The market is pricing in a 100% chance of a 25 basis point rate cut on September 18, while the probability of a 50 basis point cut is just 33%. The Fed is also expected to cut rates by 1 basis point this year.
A key metric for the Fed is the jobs report due out on September 6. Analysts expect payrolls to increase by 165,000 and the unemployment rate to fall to 4.2%.
Also important this week are the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) reports, the JOLTS and hiring activity reports, trade figures and the Fed's Be Book report.