Asian Stock Markets: Rise ahead of Fed, ECB and BoJ; China lags despite hopes for more stimulus

• Asian stocks kick off the new week on a positive note, with Japanese markets outperforming.
• Fresh concerns over a debt crunch in China's real estate sector underwhelm domestic markets.
• Traders look to the flash PMI prints for some impetus ahead of the key central bank event risks.

Most Asian stock markets rose slightly on Monday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 turning out to be the best performer and rising nearly 1.5% for the day on the back of strong quarterly earnings by major automotive manufacturers. Broader Japanese shares were also supported by expectations that the Bank of Japan (BoJ) will stick to its ultra-dovish stance at the end of a two-day policy meeting later this week on Friday.

Chinese stocks, meanwhile, lagged their peers as concerns over a debt crunch in the real estate sector trigger a fresh wave of selling against the backdrop of worries about slowing economic growth in the country. Furthermore, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell over 1% for the day and is among the worst performers on the first day of a new week. That said, additional stimulus from China should help limit losses.

In fact, China’s top economic planner - the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) - unveiled new measures on Monday that seek to promote, encourage and spur private investment in some infrastructure sectors. The NDRC added that it will strengthen financing support for private projects, though said more specific details on this will be provided later and fails to lift the market sentiment.

Investors also seem reluctant to place aggressive bets and prefer to move to the sidelines ahead of this week's key central bank event risks. The Federal Reserve (Fed) is scheduled to announce its monetary policy decision at the end of a two-day meeting on Wednesday and is expected to hike interest rates by 25 bps. Market participants, however, remain sceptic that the Fed will commit to a more dovish policy stance.

Hence, the focus will be on the accompanying policy statement and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's remarks at the post-meeting press conference, This will be followed by the European Central Bank (ECB) meeting on Thursday and the latest policy update by the BoJ on Friday. In the meantime, traders on Monday will take cues from the release of the flash PMI prints - from the Euro Zone, the UK and the US - for some impetus.