On Monday morning (20 May, 9:04 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), major indices in Asia Pacific increased as China held its one- and five-year loan prime rates unchanged at 3.45% and 3.95%, respectively. Meanwhile, investors also monitored more announcements of economic data from countries in the region.
Japan’s NIKKEI jumped by 1.59% to 39,405.89. South Korea’s KOSPI soared by 0.74% to 2,744.85, and Australia’s ASX 200 rose by 0.53% to 7,856.2.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC gained 0.43% to 3,167.51. Shenzhen’s SZI climbed by 0.4% to 9,747.78, and Hong Kong’s HSI grew by 0.49% to 19,648.64.
Meanwhile, the US stock markets edged up on Friday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) rose by 0.34% to 40,003.59. S&P 500 gained 0.12% to 5,303.27, while NASDAQ slid by 0.07% to 16,685.97. VIX dropped by 3.46% to 11.99.
As for commodities, oil prices settled higher on Friday as economic data from China and the US showed signals for higher oil demand. Brent futures increased 71 cents, or 0.85%, to $83.98 a barrel, and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose 83 cents, or 1.05%, to $80.06.
This morning, Brent futures grew 24 cents or 0.29% to $84.22 a barrel, and the WTI edged up 14 cents or 0.17% to $80.2 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures soared by 0.81% to $2,437 per Troy ounce.
