On Monday morning (5 August, 9:30 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), indices in Asia Pacific declined as the region traded in tandem with the US markets, while investors monitored key economic data from China and Taiwan, as well as interest rate decisions from Australia and India.
Japan’s markets saw significant losses, with both the Nikkei 225 and Topix plummeting by as much as 7%, approaching bear market territory and declining by nearly 20% from their record highs on July 11.
Stocks in the US experienced a significant decline on Friday following a jobs report for July that was much weaker than expected, sparking concerns that the economy may be heading towards a recession.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by only 114,000 during the month, a decrease from the revised 179,000 in June and falling below the expected 185,000 projected by Dow Jones. Additionally, the unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.3%, marking its highest level since October 2021.
Japan’s NIKKEI plummeted by 5.5% to 33,934.68. South Korea’s KOSPI slumped by 5.04% to 2,541.35, and Australia’s ASX 200 fell by 2.95% to 7,709.1.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC slid by 0.58% to 2,888.43. Hong Kong’s HSI dropped by 1.21% to 16,740.72, and Shenzhen’s SZI dipped by 0.43% to 8,516.51.
Meanwhile, the US stock markets edged down on Friday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) shrank by 1.51% to 39,737.26. NASDAQ fell by 2.43% to 16,776.16, and S&P 500 dropped by 1.84% to 5,346.56. VIX jumped by 25.82% to 23.39.
As for commodities, oil prices settled lower on Friday, reaching their lowest point since January, following reports of lower-than-anticipated job growth in the US and concerning economic data from China, exerting additional downward pressure on the market. Brent futures decreased $2.71 or 3.41% to settle at $76.81 a barrel, and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) lost $2.79 or 3.66% to settle at $73.52 per barrel.
This morning, Brent futures edged up 11 cents or 0.14% to $76.92 a barrel, and the WTI increased 4 cents or 0.05% to $73.56 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures grew by 0.25% to $2,475.9 per Troy ounce.
