On Friday morning (23 August, 9:34 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), major indices in Asia Pacific decreased ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s remarks at the annual gathering of global central bankers in Jackson Hole, typically involved outlining overarching policy plans and offering insights into the U.S. policy direction.
Meanwhile, investors digested Japan’s inflation data, showing headline inflation remaining unchanged at 2.8% in July and core inflation at 2.7%, aligning with economists’ forecasts polled by Reuters and showing a slight increase from June’s 2.6%.
Japan’s NIKKEI slid by 0.25% to 38,116.88. South Korea’s KOSPI declined by 0.46% to 2,695.13, and Australia’s ASX 200 fell by 0.35% to 7,998.8.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC dropped by 0.22% to 2,842.55. Hong Kong’s HSI contracted by 0.73% to 17,511.88, and Shenzhen’s SZI dipped by 0.1% to 8,154.04.
Meanwhile, the US stock markets edged down on Thursday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) decreased by 0.43% to 40,712.78. NASDAQ slumped by 1.67% to 17,619.35, and S&P 500 lost 0.89% to 5,570.64. VIX soared by 7.87% to 17.55.
As for commodities, oil prices settled higher on Thursday following anticipations of an upcoming U.S. interest rate reduction. This development sparked a recovery after four consecutive days of price drops. Brent futures surged $1.17 or 1.54% to settle at $77.22 a barrel, and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) increased $1.08 or 1.5% to settle at $73.01 per barrel.
This morning, Brent futures fell 6 cents or 0.08% to $77.16 a barrel, and the WTI slid 5 cents or 0.07% to $72.96 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures climbed by 0.29% to $2,524 per Troy ounce.
