Market risk appetite rose before the heavy event this week, with Asian stocks generally rising.

Before the arrival of several major events this week, the rise in market risk appetite drove Asian stock markets to a general rise on Monday. Among them, the stock markets of Japan and China stood out. In Japan, the Nikkei index rose by 0.77% to 43,714.31 points, and the TOPIX index rose by 0.43% to 3,120.96 points. Both of these Japanese stock market benchmarks closed at record highs for the second consecutive trading day. In the Chinese stock market, the Shanghai Composite Index hit a new high in nearly 10 years, the BSE 50 hit a historical high, and the Shenzhen Component Index and the ChiNext Index both surpassed their highs from October 8 last year. The total trading volume of the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets exceeded 2.7 trillion, reaching a new high for the year. In addition, as of the time of writing, the SENSEX 30 index in India rose by nearly 1%, the Taiwan Weighted Index rose by 0.61%, the FTSE Malaysia Index rose by 0.55%, and the Vietnam Index rose by 0.39%. It is worth mentioning that as the impact of U.S. tariffs becomes clearer, optimism about the prospects of Japanese domestic companies has increased, leading to a rebound in Japanese stocks since entering August. In addition to the Dow Jones Industrial Average setting an intraday record high on Friday, boosting market risk appetite, the weakening of the Japanese yen was also an important factor in the continuation of the previous week's gains in Japanese stocks on Monday. On Monday, the yen weakened against the U.S. dollar by about 0.2%. A weaker yen often boosts the stock prices of companies that rely on export income, such as automobiles, because it increases the value when overseas profits are converted back to yen. As a result, Toyota Motor Corp. Sponsored ADR and Honda Motor Co., Ltd. Sponsored ADR rose by 1.72% and 1.56% respectively. In addition, the parent company of UNIQLO, FAST RETAIL-DRS, rose by 1.44% on Monday, contributing the most to the boost in the Nikkei index by a single stock. Seiichi Suzuki, Chief Stock Market Analyst at Donghai Tokyo Intelligence Lab, said, "The domestic stock market in Japan has maintained its momentum since last week." "It is expected that foreign investors will continue to buy Japanese stocks." Investors will face many events this week. U.S. President Trump will meet with Ukrainian President Zelensky and other European leaders later on Monday to discuss the next steps. Trump met with Russian President Putin in Alaska last Friday. Furthermore, the most anticipated event this week is Federal Reserve Chairman Powell's speech at the annual Jackson Hole Economic Symposium on Friday. Market participants will look for signals on the Fed's policy outlook from Powell's speech. Andrew Hollenhorst, Chief Economist at Citi Research, said, "Powell may hint that the risks to the employment and inflation targets are becoming more balanced, paving the way for the Fed to normalize policy rates back to neutral." "But Powell is unlikely to signal a rate cut in September, and will wait for the August employment and inflation reports. This is essentially neutral for the market, as the market has already priced in a rate cut in September." In terms of U.S. stocks, the second quarter earnings season is still ongoing. Expectations of a rate cut by the Fed, along with earnings reports from several retailers expected this week, will shape the direction of U.S. stocks. Investors will learn more about the health of consumer spending from the earnings reports of retailers such as Home Depot, Inc. (HD.US), Target Corporation (TGT.US), Lowe's Companies, Inc. (LOW.US), and Walmart Inc. (WMT.US).