On Wednesday morning (15 May, 9:18 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), major indices in Asia Pacific traded mixed as investors assessed PPI data for April from the US, which rose to 0.5%, beating expectations polled by Reuters of 0.3%. Meanwhile, the People’s Bank of China kept its one-year medium term lending facility rate unchanged at 2.5%. Markets in South Korea and Hong Kong were closed for a public holiday.
Japan’s NIKKEI increased by 0.46% to 38,531.86, and Australia’s ASX 200 rose by 0.53% to 7,767.7.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC slid by 0.36% to 3,134.3, and Shenzhen’s SZI contracted by 0.21% to 9,648.63.
Meanwhile, the US stock markets edged up on Tuesday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) climbed by 0.32% to 39,558.11. NASDAQ grew by 0.75% to 16,511.18, and S&P 500 gained 0.48% to 5,246.68. VIX decreased by 1.32% to 13.42.
As for commodities, oil prices settled lower on Tuesday following supply risks from conflicts in the Middle East and wildfires in Canada, despite concerns over the continuation of the persistence of high interest rates in the US. Brent futures dropped 98 cents, or 1.18%, to $82.38 a barrel, and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) declined $1.10, or 1.39%, to $78.02.
This morning, Brent futures gained 53 cents or 0.64% to $82.91 a barrel, and the WTI edged up 59 cents or 0.76% to $78.61 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures rose by 0.13% to $2,362.9 per Troy ounce.
