On Tuesday morning (2 July, 9:23 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), indices in Asia Pacific traded mixed as investors assessed South Korea’s inflation figures for June, which stood at 2.4%. This figure fell short of the 2.7% forecasted by economists polled by Reuters.
Meanwhile, the Japanese yen depreciated to a new 38-year low against the US dollar, dropping to a level of 161.67.
South Korea’s KOSPI dropped by 0.55% to 2,789.01. Australia’s ASX 200 slid by 0.17% to 7,737.4, while Japan’s NIKKEI increased by 0.56% to 39,852.18.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC climbed by 0.12% to 2,998.19. Hong Kong’s HSI jumped by 1.44% to 17,972.95, while Shenzhen’s SZI declined by 0.39% to 8,864.35.
Meanwhile, the US stock markets edged up on Monday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 0.13% to 39,169.52. NASDAQ soared by 0.83% to 17,879.3, and S&P 500 surged by 0.27% to 5,475.09. VIX slumped by 1.77% to 12.22.
As for commodities, oil prices settled higher on Monday amid concerns of a potential escalation of conflict in the Middle East and projections of an uptick in summer fuel consumption. Brent futures for September rose $1.60 or 1.88% to $86.60 a barrel, while the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for August grew $1.84 or 2.26% to $83.38 per barrel.
This morning, Brent futures increased 23 cents or 0.27% to $86.83 a barrel, and the WTI edged up 16 cents or 0.19% to $83.54 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures climbed by 0.16% to $2,342.7 per Troy ounce.
