On Friday morning (21 June, 9:34 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), indices in Asia Pacific traded mixed as Japan announced lower-than-expected inflation data in May, with core inflation being at 2.5%, missing expectations polled by Reuters of 2.6% while moving faster than 2.2% level in April. Headline inflation climbed to 2.8%, compared to April’s figure of 2.5%.
Meanwhile, the finance ministers of South Korea and Japan will meet on June 25 for discussions on bilateral and multilateral collaboration.
Japan’s NIKKEI rose by 0.17% to 38,699.49. Australia’s ASX 200 edged up by 0.02% to 7,771.2, while South Korea’s KOSPI dropped by 1% to 2,779.52.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC dipped by 0.16% to 3,000.54. Shenzhen’s SZI contracted by 0.18% to 9,052.81, and Hong Kong’s HSI slumped by 1.17% to 18,120.68.
Meanwhile, the US stock markets were mixed on Thursday as NASDAQ lost 0.79% to 17,721.59. S&P 500 slid by 0.25% to 5,473.17, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) surged by 0.77% to 39,134.76. VIX jumped by 7.97% to 13.28.
As for commodities, oil prices decreased early on Friday as interest rates in Asia and the United States were anticipated to remain high for a longer period. Meanwhile, the drop was offset by decreasing U.S. oil inventories. Brent futures for August declined 11 cents to $85.60 a barrel by 0013 GMT, and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) slid 9 cents to $81.20 per barrel.
This morning, Brent futures declined 12 cents or 0.14% to $85.59 a barrel, and the WTI lost 10 cents or 0.12% to $81.19 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures increased by 0.22% to $2,374.3 per Troy ounce.
