Asia-Pacific markets were mixed Monday after New York Federal Reserve President John Williams signaled a third rate cut was a possibility this year.
Markets in Japan were closed for holiday.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng recovered 496.48 points, or 2%, to 25,716.50, boosted by tech and health-care stocks.
On Friday, Williams suggested the Fed could lower its key interest rate as labor market weakness poses a bigger economic threat than higher inflation.
The Fed has just one meeting left for 2025, which will take place on Dec. 9-10 stateside. The target rate is currently at 3.75% to 4.00%.
Fed funds futures are pricing in around a 70% chance for a quarter-percentage-point cut, according to the CME FedWatch tool, up from about 44% during the week through Nov. 14.
Asian markets declined across the board last week as traders fled tech stocks, with heavyweights such as SoftBank, Samsung Electronics, and Baidu posting losses.
South Korea’s markets turned negative after rising earlier in the session. Kospi heavyweight Samsung Electronics rose 2%.
On Monday, shares of logistics group Qube climbed nearly 20% after Macquarie Asset Management made an offer of 11.6 billion Australian dollars ($7.49 billion U.S.) to acquire the firm.
Mining giant BHP rose about 0.62% after the company announced it was no longer considering a merger with British miner Anglo American.
In other markets
The CSI 300 in Shanghai lost 5.56 points, or 0.1%, to 4,448.05.
In Korea, the Kospi dipped 7.2 points, or 0.2%, to 3,846.06.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index moved ahead 27.49 points, or 0.6%, to 4,498.63.
In Taiwan, the Taiex recovered 69.3 points, or 0.6%, to 26,504.24.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 gained 80.45 points, or 0.6%, to 13.499.85.
In Australia, the ASX 200 picked up 108.59 points, or 1.3%, to 8,525.09.
