On Thursday morning (4 July, 9:35 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), most indices in Asia Pacific surged as, according to the nation’s largest labor union, wage hikes among Japanese companies, rising to the largest hikes in three decades, supported the country’s Topix index to surpass an all-time high of 2,886.50, previously set in December 1989.
Larger companies with 300 or more employees supported by labor unions raised salaries by 5.19%, whereas smaller companies increased wages by 4.45%.
Meanwhile, investors also assessed other economic data in the region, such as Hong Kong business activity and Australian trade numbers.
Japan’s NIKKEI climbed by 0.22% to 40,668.34. South Korea’s KOSPI increased by 0.71% to 2,813.86, and Australia’s ASX 200 rose by 1.12% to 7,826.5.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC slid by 0.14% to 2,978.28. Shenzhen’s SZI dropped by 0.14% to 8,748.46, while Hong Kong’s HSI gained 0.16% to 18,007.33.
Meanwhile, the US stock markets edged up on Wednesday as NASDAQ increased by 0.88% to 18,188.3. S&P 500 grew by 0.51% to 5,537.02, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 0.06% to 39,308. VIX surged by 0.5% to 12.09.
As for commodities, oil prices settled higher on Wednesday following a larger-than-expected drop in U.S. crude oil inventories. However, the increase was limited by worries about the growth of global stockpiles in thin trading before the U.S. Independence Day holiday. Brent futures grew $1.10 or 1.3% to $87.34 a barrel, and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) soared $1.07 or 1.3% to $83.88 per barrel.
This morning, Brent futures lost 41 cents or 0.47% to $86.93 a barrel, and the WTI edged down 44 cents or 0.52% to $83.44 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures slid by 0.03% to $2,368.6 per Troy ounce.
