On Friday morning (27 September, 9:40 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), most indices in Asia Pacific exhibited a positive trend as investors digested key data from China after the markets showed an upward trend from the release of stimulus measures on Tuesday.
China’s industrial profit data for August revealed a significant 17.8% decline compared to the previous year. This sharp drop comes after a 4.1% year-on-year growth in July, the quickest growth in five months.
Traders also assessed the September inflation data from Tokyo, Japan, as the headline inflation rate decreased to 2.2% in September, a decline from the 2.6% recorded in August, while the core inflation rate matched economists’ forecasts polled by Reuters, registering at 2% in September, a decrease from 2.4% shown in the previous month.
Meanwhile, the U.S. market saw an uptick supported by a set of new economic indicators, including a larger-than-anticipated drop in weekly jobless claims and a robust 3% GDP growth in Q2.
Japan’s NIKKEI climbed by 0.02% to 38,935.24. Australia’s ASX 200 edged up by 0.1% to 8,212.2, while South Korea’s KOSPI slid by 0.04% to 2,670.38.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC rose by 0.99% to 3,030.61. Hong Kong’s HSI jumped by 2.26% to 20,374.92, and Shenzhen’s SZI soared by 3.63% to 9,240.61.
Meanwhile, the US stock markets edged up on Thursday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 0.62% to 42,175.11. NASDAQ climbed by 0.6% to 18,190.29, and S&P 500 increased by 0.4% to 5,745.37. VIX dipped by 0.26% to 15.37.
As for commodities, oil prices settled lower on Thursday following reports indicating Saudi Arabia’s intention to proceed with production hikes later in the year, potentially leading to an extended period of reduced oil prices. Brent futures decreased $1.86 or 2.53% to $71.60 a barrel, and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) lost $2.02 or 2.9% to $67.67 per barrel.
This morning, Brent futures declined 41 cents or 0.57% to $71.19 a barrel, and the WTI contracted 40 cents or 0.59% to $67.27 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures slid by 0.16% to $2,690.7 per Troy ounce.
