On Friday morning (26 July, 9:41 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), most indices in Asia Pacific rebounded following a sell-off from yesterday, which had caused several indexes in the region to drop to multi-month lows. Meanwhile, traders also digested the July inflation report released from Tokyo.
Tokyo’s headline inflation in July showed a slight decrease to 2.2% from 2.3% in May, while its core inflation rate, which excludes fresh food prices, stayed steady at 2.2%, aligning with market expectations.
Japan’s NIKKEI edged up by 0.46% to 38,043. South Korea’s KOSPI increased by 0.94% to 2,736.22, and Australia’s ASX 200 gained 0.98% to 7,938.1.
As for stocks in China, Hong Kong’s HSI surged by 0.48% to 17,086.35. Shenzhen’s SZI soared by 0.65% to 8,530.22, while Shanghai’s SSEC slid by 0.29% to 2,878.33.
Meanwhile, the US stock markets were mixed on Thursday as NASDAQ fell by 0.93% to 17,181.72. S&P 500 lost 0.51% to 5,399.22, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) climbed by 0.2% to 39,935.07. VIX jumped by 2.33% to 18.46.
As for commodities, oil prices settled higher on Thursday following robust U.S. economic indicators that raised anticipations for increased crude demand. However, anxiety over reduced oil imports from China restricted the extent of the price surge. Brent futures rose 66 cents or 0.81% to settle at $82.37 a barrel, and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) grew 69 cents or 0.89% to settle at $78.28 per barrel.
This morning, Brent futures climbed 24 cents or 0.29% to $82.61 a barrel, and the WTI edged up 24 cents or 0.31% to $78.52 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures increased by 0.78% to $2,371.8 per Troy ounce.
