On Tuesday morning (5 Mar, 9:48 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), most major indices in Asia Pacific declined amid the ongoing “Two Sessions” meeting in China. The world’s second largest economy expected its inflation rate to climb to around 3%, while investors kept their eyes on the details of the economic data from the meeting, as China targeted the country’s GDP growth in 2024 at around 5%.
Japan’s NIKKEI edged down by 0.44% to 39,931.92. South Korea’s KOSPI slid by 0.6% to 2,658.28, while Australia’s ASX 200 rose by 0.06% to 7,740.2.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC decreased by 0.04% to 3,038.22. Shenzhen’s SZI dipped by 0.66% to 9,376.29, and Hong Kong’s HSI slumped by 2.17% to 16,235.51.
Meanwhile, the US stock markets edged lower on Monday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) contracted by 0.25% to 38,989.83. NASDAQ lost 0.41% to 16,207.51, and S&P 500 shrank by 0.12% to 5,130.95. VIX gained 2.9% to 13.49.
As for commodities, oil prices edged lower on Monday as China’s plan to transform its economy after the COVID pandemic raised concerns among investors, as the target will be harder to achieve in 2024. Brent fell 75 cents or 0.9% to $82.80 per barrel, and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) dropped $1.23 or 1.54% to $78.74 a barrel.
This morning, Brent edged down 9 cents or 0.11% to $82.71 a barrel, and WTI decreased 15 cents or 0.19% to $78.59 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures slid by 0.26% to $2,120.8 per Troy ounce.
