Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Tuesday, following a successful session on Wall Street where the Dow Jones Industrial Average achieved a record high as companies reported strong earnings for the quarter.
Investors in the region will be closely monitoring trade figures from Japan and employment data from Australia. Japan’s Nikkei 225 saw a slight decrease of 0.5%, while Australia’s ASX 200 experienced a rise of 0.9% in early trading. South Korea’s Kospi was up by 0.13%, and the Hong Kong Hang Seng index opened with a 1.95% increase after significant policy updates from the chief executive on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, in Mainland China, the CSI 300 dropped 0.12% as the housing ministry provided updates on supporting the property market. On the other hand, Shanghai Composite edged higher by 0.22%.
During regular trading on Wednesday, the Dow rose by 0.79%, the S&P 500 increased by 0.47%, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.28%.
In the commodity market, crude futures slightly declined on Wednesday. West Texas Intermediate settled at $70.39 per barrel, down 0.27%, while Brent closed at $74.22 per barrel, down 0.04%. However, in the latest morning session, WTI climbed by 0.60% to $70.81 a barrel, and Brent rose by 0.53% to $74.61 a barrel.
Moreover, gold prices surged towards all-time highs on Wednesday due to a rise in non-interest bearing gold, supported by weakening U.S. bond yields and anticipated rate cuts by major central banks. Spot gold increased by approximately 0.6% to $2,676.03 per ounce, approaching its record peak of $2,685.42 on September 26. U.S. gold futures also saw a gain of 0.5% to $2,692.60.
