On Wednesday morning (2 October, 9:39 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), indices in Asia Pacific traded mixed as investors digested key data from South Korea, while also monitoring rising turmoil in the Middle East.
South Korea’s consumer price index for September increased by 1.6% compared to the same period last year. This growth was below the expectations of economists surveyed by Reuters, predicting a 1.9% rise. On a monthly basis, the index went up by 0.1%, lower than the 0.4% increase seen in the previous month and fell short of the 0.3% forecasted by economists.
The country’s factory activity experienced its sharpest contraction in 15 months, with the PMI for manufacturers dropping to 48.3 in September from 51.9 in the previous month.
In the Middle East, Iran conducted a ballistic missile strike on Israel yesterday as a response to the recent killings of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and an Iranian commander in Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Shigeru Ishiba officially assumed the role of Japan’s Prime Minister on Tuesday, after securing victory as the leader of the country’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party in the previous week. He took over from Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who had formally resigned earlier in the day.
Markets in Mainland China were closed and are set to remain shut for the rest of the week in observance of the Golden Week holiday.
Japan’s NIKKEI slumped by 1.69% to 37,996.86, and South Korea’s KOSPI fell by 0.44% to 2,581.94. Australia’s ASX 200 climbed by 0.04% to 8,211.9, while Hong Kong’s HSI jumped by 3.69% to 21,913.31.
Meanwhile, the US stock markets edged down on Tuesday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) declined by 0.41% to 42,156.97. NASDAQ lost 1.53% to 17,910.36, and S&P 500 contracted by 0.93% to 5,708.75. VIX surged by 15.12% to 19.26.
As for commodities, oil prices settled higher on Tuesday following rising concerns after Iran launched a series of ballistic missiles at Israel in response to Israel’s military actions against Tehran’s Hezbollah allies in Lebanon. Brent futures surged $1.86 or 2.6% to $73.56 a barrel, and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) increased $1.66 or 2.4% to $69.83 per barrel.
This morning, Brent futures gained $1 or 1.36% to $74.56 a barrel, and the WTI grew $1.08 or 1.55% to $70.91 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures slid by 0.34% to $2,681.2 per Troy ounce.
