On Monday morning (9 September, 9:31 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), indices in Asia Pacific decreased in response to the underwhelming U.S. jobs report released on Friday, while investors also digested key data from Japan and China.
The U.S. nonfarm payrolls increased by 142,000 jobs, falling short of the anticipated 161,000 gain as predicted by economists surveyed by Dow Jones. Conversely, the unemployment rate slightly decreased to 4.2%, aligning with forecasts.
Japan’s GDP for the second quarter was reported at 2.9% on an annualized basis, falling below the 3.2% forecasted by economists surveyed by Reuters and the preliminary figure of 3.1%.
In China, the inflation rate increased by 0.6% year-on-year, lower than the expected 0.7% according to economists surveyed by Reuters. On a month-on-month basis, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) saw a 0.4% increase, falling short of the anticipated 0.5%.
Japan’s NIKKEI slumped by 1.84% to 35,721.88. South Korea’s KOSPI fell by 1.07% to 2,517.16, and Australia’s ASX 200 contracted by 0.77% to 7,952.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC shrank by 0.82% to 2,743.15. Hong Kong’s HSI plummeted by 1.76% to 17,137.34, and Shenzhen’s SZI slid by 0.48% to 8,091.58.
Meanwhile, the US stock markets edged down on Friday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) decreased by 1.01% to 40,345.41. NASDAQ slumped by 2.55% to 16,690.83, and S&P 500 diminished by 1.73% to 5,408.42. VIX jumped by 12.46% to 22.38.
As for commodities, oil prices settled lower on Friday and dropped to its lowest point since June 2023, signaling a concerning trend for the benchmark as it heads towards its most challenging week in almost a year. The lack of assurance from OPEC+ regarding the global supply and demand equilibrium has contributed to this downward trajectory.
OPEC+ has decided to defer the scheduled increment of 180,000 barrels per day in production until December due to a sharp decline in oil prices.
Brent futures lost $1.63 or 2.2% to $71.06 a barrel, and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) declined $1.48 or 2.1% to $67.67 per barrel.
This morning, Brent futures rose 89 cents or 1.25% to $71.95 a barrel, and the WTI increased 91 cents or 1.34% to $68.58 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures climbed by 0.09% to $2,526.9 per Troy ounce.
