On Thursday morning (25 Apr, 9:16 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), most major indices in Asia Pacific slowed down their gains and were in line with Wall Street, as investors awaited the announcement of 1Q24 GDP figures from the US tonight. Despite the decrease, South Korea’s 1Q24 GDP growth accelerated 3.4% YoY, while markets in Australia were closed for a public holiday.
Japan’s NIKKEI slumped by 1.79% to 37,770.39, and South Korea’s KOSPI dropped by 1.09% to 2,646.63.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC slid by 0.2% to 3,038.65. Shenzhen’s SZI edged down by 0.11% to 9,240.98, while Hong Kong’s HSI climbed by 0.14% to 17,225.79.
Meanwhile, the US stock markets edged up slightly on Wednesday as NASDAQ rose by 0.1% to 15,712.75. S&P 500 grew by 0.02% to 5,071.63, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) slid by 0.11% to 38,460.92. VIX jumped by 1.78% to 15.97.
As for commodities, oil prices settled lower on Wednesday day as traders shifted their attention away from the conflicts in the Middle East and focused on supply and demand fundamentals. Brent decreased 40 cents or 0.45% to $88.02 per barrel, and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) lost 55 cents or 0.66% to $82.81 a barrel.
This morning, Brent declined 11 cents or 0.12% to $87.91 a barrel, and the WTI contracted 16 cents or 0.19% to $82.65 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures dropped by 0.28% to $2,331.8 per Troy ounce.
