Investing.com - Shares in Asia were mixed on Monday with Shanghai up strongly, but Sydney down as investors generally eyed continued easy monetary policies.
The Shanghai Composite soared 3.38% in the morning, while the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.83%.
In the week ahead, investors will be looking to Wednesday’s U.S. data on retail sales and Thursday’s data on consumer prices for fresh indications on the strength of consumer spending.
On Monday, markets in Japan will be closed for a national holiday along with Canada.
In the U.S., Chicago Fed President Charles Evans is to speak, while Fed Governor Lael Brainard is to speak at another event.
Last week, U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Technology, Healthcare and Consumer Services sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.20% to hit a new 1-month high, while the S&P 500 index added 0.07%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.41%.
Shars rose on expectations that the Federal Reserve will hold off on hiking interest rates until 2016.
Minutes from the Fed’s September policy meeting, published on Thursday, showed that most policymakers thought an initial rate hike should still come this year and that financial market turmoil had not "materially altered" the outlook for the U.S. economy.
But the minutes also noted that recent global economic and financial developments may have increased the downside risks to the U.S. economy.
The minutes underlined the view that the Fed will delay rate hikes until well into 2016.