Asian stocks suffer moderate losses, await Trump speech

Asian stocks retreated this Monday morning amid the drop in the government bond yields and on caution ahead of Trump speech due tomorrow.

At the time of writing, Japan’s Nikkei index was down 0.8%. The strength in the Japanese Yen weighed over the exporter shares. Shanghai Composite was down 0.15%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 5 points as well. South Korea’s Kospi was down 3 points.

Markets await President Donald Trump's speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, although once again, Trump is likely to be high on rhetoric and low on substance.

The 10-year treasury yield hit a one-month low of 2.31% on Friday. Yields in Australia and Japan fell as well due to increased demand for safe haven assets on account of political uncertainty in France.

Apart from Trump speech, Investors will also be watching comments from Fed officials, including Yellen. The economic data release this week includes US personal income and spending, India and Australia GDP, China PMI and US ISM PMI.