Asian stocks pushed higher overnight, tracking Wall Street gains

Tuesday's gains in Asian markets preceded a series of speeches by Federal Reserve officials later in the day, while the Australian dollar remained stable following the central bank's policy announcement that had few shocks.

As anticipated, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) maintained interest rates on Tuesday at a 12-year high of 4.35% but cautioned that there were still reasons to be wary of inflation concerns.

This week's meetings of the central banks of Norway, the UK, and Switzerland are also scheduled. The expectations are for the former two to maintain their current rate structures and for the Swiss National Bank to provide an additional 25 basis points (bps) of easing.

Following last week's policy decision, there are six Fed speakers scheduled for Tuesday in the United States. These speakers may offer more insights on the outlook for interest rates in the country.

Based on futures, the Fed will decrease rates by around 45 basis points during the course of 2024.

Prior to the release of U.S. retail sales data later in the day, the dollar strengthened relative to other currencies, driving down the euro.

Similarly, the value of sterling dropped to $1.2696, and the yen last traded at 157.73 to the dollar.

China's onshore yuan continued to weaken at a seven-month low of 7.2556 per dollar on Monday due in part to conflicting economic data that suggested Beijing would need to provide more assistance to strengthen the nation's economy.

Key Factors To Watch Today:

• Eurozone Inflation Data
• US Retail Sales
• Fed Speakers

(Sources: investing.com, reuters.com)