On Friday morning (16 Feb, 9:56 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), major indices in Asia Pacific increased despite a drop of Japan’s GDP which slid for two consecutive quarters and caused the country to enter a technical recession. Japan’s 4Q23 GDP dipped by 0.4% YoY, which largely missed expectations from economists polled by Reuters of 1.4% growth. The number followed a drop of 3.3% in 3Q23.
The contraction caused Japan to lose its position as the world’s third-largest economy to Germany.
Japan’s NIKKEI surged by 0.91% to 38,505.89. Australia’s ASX 200 edged up by 0.67% to 7,656.4, and South Korea’s KOSPI rose by 0.81% to 2,634.94.
As for stocks in China, Hong Kong’s HSI climbed by 1.17% to 16,131.63.
Meanwhile, the US stocks market edged higher on Thursday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) increased by 0.91% to 38,773.12. NASDAQ grew by 0.3% to 15,906.17, and S&P 500 rose by 0.58% to 5,029.73. VIX slid by 2.57% to 14.01.
As for commodities, oil prices settled higher on Thursday following the weakening dollar, caused by the lower-than-expected retail sales figures from the US. Brent gained $1.26 or 1.54% to $82.86 per barrel, and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose $1.39 or 1.81% to $78.03 a barrel.
This morning, Brent increased 1 cents or 0.01% to $82.87 a barrel, and WTI grew 11 cents or 0.14% to $78.14 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures climbed by 0.06% to $2,016.2 per Troy ounce.
