On Friday morning (30 August, 9:35 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), indices in Asia Pacific increased across the region following the release of key economic data from the US, which helped alleviate concerns about a looming recession. Meanwhile, investors also analyzed a series of data releases from Japan.
Initial jobless claims in the United States dropped to 231,000 from the previous week’s 232,000, marginally higher than the 230,000 forecasted by Dow Jones.
Moreover, there was a revision of the second-quarter GDP growth rate from the initial 2.8% to 3%.
Meanwhile, the inflation rate in Tokyo, Japan’s capital city, increased to 2.6% from the previous month’s 2.2%, marking its highest level since March and providing the Bank of Japan with greater flexibility to potentially tighten its monetary policy.
Japan’s NIKKEI gained 0.5% to 38,555.06. South Korea’s KOSPI rose by 0.63% to 2,679.01, and Australia’s ASX 200 climbed by 0.35% to 8,073.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC surged by 0.48% to 2,836.52. Hong Kong’s HSI soared by 0.94% to 17,952.98, and Shenzhen’s SZI jumped by 2.02% to 8,319.52.
Meanwhile, the US stock markets were mixed on Thursday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) edged up by 0.59% to 41,335.05. NASDAQ slid by 0.23% to 17,516.43, and S&P 500 remained unchanged at 5,591.96. VIX plummeted by 8.53% to 15.65.
As for commodities, oil prices settled higher on Thursday due to supply interruptions in Libya and proposed production decreases in Iraq, sparking concerns of restricted global supply. Brent futures grew $1.29 or 1.6% to settle at $79.94 a barrel, and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) surged $1.39 or 1.9% to settle at $75.91 per barrel.
This morning, Brent futures increased 14 cents or 0.18% to $80.08 a barrel, and the WTI climbed 10 cents or 0.13% to $76.01 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures dropped by 0.42% to $2,549.5 per Troy ounce.
