On Monday morning (18 Mar, 9:22 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), most major indices in Asia Pacific rose as investors prepared for economic data coming this week from a slew of meetings across the continents, especially the Federal Reserve meeting on 19-20 March.
Japan’s NIKKEI jumped by 2.32% to 39,606.64. South Korea’s KOSPI edged up by 0.48% to 2,679.54, and Australia’s ASX 200 climbed by 0.01% to 7,671.3.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC rose by 0.27% to 3,062.78. Shenzhen’s SZI increased by 0.52% to 9,663.11, while Hong Kong’s HSI slid by 0.27% to 16,675.72.
Meanwhile, the US stock markets edged lower on Friday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) decreased by 0.49% to 38,714.77. NASDAQ contracted by 0.96% to 15,973.17, and S&P 500 dropped by 0.65% to 5,117.09. VIX edged up by 0.07% to 14.41.
As for commodities, oil prices settled lower on Friday despite the fact that the International Energy Agency (IEA) and OPEC expected weak oil supply in 2024. Brent fell 8 cents or 0.09% to $85.34 per barrel, and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) lost 22 cents or 0.27% to $81.04 a barrel.
This morning, Brent gained 26 cents or 0.3% to $85.6 a barrel, and WTI increased 35 cents or 0.43% to $81.39 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures slid by 0.29% to $2,155.3 per Troy ounce.
