About this episode
Asian stocks posted modest gains at the open after Wall Street hit fresh highs ahead of an expected Federal Reserve interest-rate cut this week. Shares in Japan, Australia and South Korea opened higher, with the MSCI Asia-Pacific Index hovering near its record high. Bets on Fed easing sent the S&P 500 above 6,600 on Monday, while the Nasdaq 100 posted its longest advance since 2023. Meantime, Donald Trump's economic adviser Stephen Miran is on his way to joining the Federal Reserve board after the Senate confirmed him to the post in a vote Monday evening. The Senate voted largely along party lines to approve Miran's nomination, setting him up to walk into the Fed's Washington offices Tuesday morning in time for this week's FOMC meeting. We get the views of Katy Kaminski, Chief Research Strategist and Portfolio Manager at AlphaSimplex. Plus - President Trump said he would speak with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Friday as US and Chinese officials reached a framework deal on keeping the TikTok app running in the US. It would be the first direct engagement between Trump and Xi since June. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who led the talks in Spain, told reporters that a framework to keep ByteDance's TikTok app running in the US had been reached. China's Vice Commerce Minister Li Chenggang also told reporters in Madrid that a framework of "consensus" had been reached on TikTok, while cautioning that Beijing won't sacrifice principles for a deal. We get reaction from Wendy Cutler, Vice President at the Asia Society Policy Institute. She speaks with Bloomberg's Shery Ahn and Annabelle Droulers on The Asia Trade. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.