Asian markets face uncertainty ahead of September

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Asian markets face uncertainty ahead of September

Jamie McGeever took a look at the day ahead in Asian markets as a result of Reuters - A look at the day ahead.

Asian markets kick off the new month on Thursday, glad to see the back of a turbulent August but wary of what September holds.

Last month, the driving forces -- heavy selling in fixed income, rising global interest rate expectations, the looming energy crunch in Europe, and China's deepening economic, energy, and financial problems -- will not suddenly evaporate with the date change.

Equity investors may look to start the month on the front foot and pick up some relative bargains, after the S&P 500 and world stocks fell more than 4% in August.

Bond investors may think that the same two-year German yields, for example, have been crushed recently, and the increase in yield last month was the steepest in 40 years.

Wednesday's news flow was not encouraging, particularly from Europe. The headline inflation in the euro zone rose to a new record high of 9.1%, and economists at Bank of America and Goldman Sachs now predict that the ECB will raise rates by a punchy 75 basis points in September.

According to Goldman Sachs financial conditions indexes, financial conditions in China are their tightest since May and the tightest in the United States in over a month and close to a new post-pandemic peak.

Stocks and oil prices are being lower because of the recession. In August, the price of crude fell to 12%, down for a third month in a row.

Key developments that should give more direction to markets on Thursday: