On Friday morning (31 May, 9:21 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), major indices in Asia Pacific increased as investors digested a slew of economic data across the region. Japan’s industrial output figures slid 0.1% in April, below expectations polled by Reuters of 0.9% rise, while South Korea’s industrial production index grew 2.2% in April on a seasonally adjusted basis, beating an increase of 1.1% expectation polled by Reuters.
In addition, investors awaited the announcement of PMI figures in May from China.
Japan’s NIKKEI climbed by 0.39% to 38,201.89. South Korea’s KOSPI rose by 0.38% to 2,645.46, and Australia’s ASX 200 increased by 0.5% to 7,666.4.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC grew by 0.32% to 3,101.57. Shenzhen’s SZI gained 0.46% to 9,428.28, and Hong Kong’s HSI jumped by 1.5% to 18,502.81.
Meanwhile, the US stock markets edged down on Thursday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell by 0.86% to 38,111.48. NASDAQ slumped by 1.08% to 16,737.08, and S&P 500 declined by 0.6% to 5,235.48. VIX surged by 1.33% to 14.47.
As for commodities, oil prices settled lower on Thursday following soft gasoline demand, while US crude oil dropped 4.9% in May, marking its worst performance since December. Brent futures decreased $1.74 or 2.08% to $81.86 a barrel, and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) contracted $1.32 or 1.67% to $77.91.
This morning, Brent futures slid 25 cents or 0.31% to $81.61 a barrel, and the WTI fell 28 cents or 0.36% to $77.63 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures climbed by 0.07% to $2,368.2 per Troy ounce.
