On Monday morning (11 Mar, 9:33 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), most major indices in Asia Pacific declined as the US market cooled down. Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei contracted despite the fact that its revised official data indicated an economic expansion of 0.4% in the fourth quarter last year, supporting the country to avoid a technical recession.
Japan’s NIKKEI slumped by 2.41% to 38,733.51. South Korea’s KOSPI dipped by 0.34% to 2,671.18, and Australia’s ASX 200 slid by 1.46% to 7,732.6.
As for stocks in China, Hong Kong’s HSI edged up by 1.02% to 16,520.9. Shenzhen’s SZI rose by 0.71% to 9,436.02, while Shanghai’s SSEC fell by 0.13% to 3,042.
Meanwhile, the US stock markets edged lower on Friday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) dropped by 0.18% to 38,722.69. NASDAQ edged down by 1.16% to 16,085.11, and S&P 500 declined by 0.65% to 5,123.69. VIX grew by 2.08% to 14.74.
As for commodities, oil prices settled lower on Friday as investors raised concerns over the weakened demand from China, while the International Energy Agency (IEA) stated that oil should be relatively well-supplied in the market this year. Brent lost 88 cents or 1.06% to $82.08 per barrel, and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) slid 92 cents or 1.17% to $78.01 a barrel.
This morning, Brent fell 63 cents or 0.77% to $81.45 a barrel, and WTI decreased 64 cents or 0.82% to $77.37 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures remained unchanged at $2,185.4 per Troy ounce.
