On Friday morning (16 August, 9:35 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), indices in Asia Pacific increased following a rally on Wall Street overnight, fueled by encouraging economic indicators that alleviated concerns of an impending recession.
In July, retail sales in the United States surged by 1%, significantly surpassing the Dow Jones estimate of a mere 0.3% increase. Additionally, weekly jobless claims saw a decline for the week.
Investors also analyzed updated trade figures from South Korea and export data from Singapore, while Taiwan and Hong Kong are set to release their second-quarter GDP data after the close of the trading session.
South Korea’s revised trade data for July stayed consistent with its initial figures, showing a 13.9% increase in exports amounting to $57.5 billion and a 10.5% rise in imports totaling $53.9 billion.
Japan’s NIKKEI soared by 2.98% to 37,820.81. South Korea’s KOSPI jumped by 1.78% to 2,691.57, and Australia’s ASX 200 rose by 1.27% to 7,965.5.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC climbed by 0.28% to 2,885.45. Hong Kong’s HSI surged by 1.68% to 17,395.85, and Shenzhen’s SZI grew by 0.17% to 8,384.4.
Meanwhile, the US stock markets edged up on Thursday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) increased by 1.39% to 40,563.06. NASDAQ gained 2.34% to 17,594.5, and S&P 500 expanded by 1.61% to 5,543.22. VIX plummeted by 5.93% to 15.23.
As for commodities, oil prices settled higher on Thursday following reassuring U.S. economic data that alleviated concerns of a recession. However, the upward momentum was tempered by apprehensions surrounding a potential slowdown in global demand. Brent futures rose $1.28 or 1.6% to settle at $81.04 a barrel, and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) surged $1.18 or 1.53% to settle at $78.16 per barrel.
This morning, Brent futures decreased 15 cents or 0.19% to $80.89 a barrel, and the WTI dropped 23 cents or 0.29% to $77.93 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures slid by 0.01% to $2,492.2 per Troy ounce.
