On Thursday morning (30 May, 9:23 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), most indices in Asia Pacific declined and were in line with the US markets, as investors looked ahead to the announcement of economic data on Friday, including industrial production figures from Japan and South Korea and PMI data for May from China.
Japan’s NIKKEI slumped by 1.52% to 37,972.04. South Korea’s KOSPI contracted by 0.64% to 2,660.25, and Australia’s ASX 200 decreased by 0.49% to 7,627.9.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC rose by 0.24% to 3,118.57. Shenzhen’s SZI climbed by 0.14% to 9,427.76, while Hong Kong’s HSI slid by 0.09% to 18,461.05.
Meanwhile, the US stock markets edged down on Wednesday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) declined by 1.06% to 38,441.54. NASDAQ dropped by 0.58% to 16,920.58, and S&P 500 fell by 0.74% to 5,266.95. VIX jumped by 10.53% to 14.28.
As for commodities, oil prices settled lower on Wednesday as traders raised concerns over weak US gasoline demand, as well as the possibility that the US Federal Reserve could maintain high interest rates for longer. Brent futures dropped 62 cents or 0.74% to $83.60 a barrel, and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) lost 60 cents or 0.75% to $79.23.
This morning, Brent futures gained 7 cents or 0.08% to $83.67 a barrel, and the WTI increased 14 cents or 0.18% to $79.37 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures slid by 0.26% to $2,335 per Troy ounce.
