On Wednesday morning (19 June, 9:22 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), indices in Asia Pacific traded mixed following the rise of key U.S. benchmark indexes to new highs as Nvidia surpassed Microsoft to become the most valuable public company in the world.
Investors in Asia digested May trade data from Japan, with exports beating expectations by rising 13.5% YoY, while imports fell short with a growth of 9.5%.
Meanwhile, the latest Reuters Tankan index data revealed a decline in business confidence among large Japanese manufacturers to +6 from +9 in May. Conversely, business confidence among non-manufacturers surged to +31 from +26 in the same period.
Japan’s NIKKEI increased by 0.63% to 38,725.76. South Korea’s KOSPI soared by 1.08% to 2,793.89, while Australia’s ASX 200 slid by 0.03% to 7,776.1.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC dipped by 0.28% to 3,021.8. Shenzhen’s SZI dropped by 0.82% to 9,242.25, while Hong Kong’s HSI jumped by 1.57% to 18,196.76.
Meanwhile, the US stock markets edged up on Tuesday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) surged by 0.15% to 38,834.86. NASDAQ gained 0.03% to 17,862.23, and S&P 500 climbed by 0.25% to 5,487.03. VIX slumped by 3.53% to 12.3.
As for commodities, oil prices settled higher on Tuesday as global supply was pressured by tensions from geopolitical risk in Europe and the Middle East. Brent futures rose $1.08 or 1.3% to $85.33 a barrel, and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) grew $1.24 or 1.5% to $81.57.
This morning, Brent futures gained 1 cents or 0.01% to $85.34 a barrel, while the WTI slid 1 cents or 0.01% to $81.56 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures declined by 0.11% to $2,344.3 per Troy ounce.
