Tokyo's main index closes lower in mixed day for Asian stocks
Japanese stocks were weighed down in trading today as investors brace themselves for key events in the day ahead with trade talks between US and China set to take place in Washington while the first FOMC meeting of the year beckons.
There has been plenty of talk about the timing of the Fed's balance sheet runoff and how that could play a factor into driving risk assets/equities but frankly speaking, I'm not too concerned about it. I would expect Powell to maintain a similar tone in December and not confirm any exit of QT by this year.
That said, for equities sentiment, jitters should remain until we get some idea on how trade talks between US and China will pan out. But as they begin discussions in Washington, expect headlines to be few and far between over the next two days.
