On Monday morning (7 October, 9:27 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), indices in Asia Pacific increased, with Japan’s Nikkei leading the way as investors anticipate a week filled with central bank decisions from various countries.
Three central banks are scheduled to announce their interest rate verdicts this week, including the Bank of Korea, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, and the Reserve Bank of India. According to a survey conducted by Reuters, economists anticipate rate cuts from the BOK and RBNZ, while the RBI is likely to maintain its current rates.
Mainland China’s markets stayed shut due to the Golden Week holiday and are scheduled to resume trading on Tuesday.
Japan’s NIKKEI jumped by 2.04% to 39,424.63. South Korea’s KOSPI surged by 0.75% to 2,588.97, and Australia’s ASX 200 edged up by 0.58% to 8,197.6.
Hong Kong’s HSI soared by 1.1% to 22,986.34.
Meanwhile, the US stock markets edged up on Friday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) rose by 0.81% to 42,352.75. NASDAQ gained 1.22% to 18,137.85, and S&P 500 increased by 0.9% to 5,751.07. VIX slumped by 6.25% to 19.21.
As for commodities, oil prices settled higher on Friday, recording their most significant weekly increase in more than a year, driven by escalating concerns of a potential conflict in the Middle East. However, the uptick was tempered following U.S. President Joe Biden’s advice against Israel targeting Iranian oil installations. Brent futures grew 43 cents or 0.6% to $78.05 a barrel, and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose 67 cents or 0.9% to $74.38 per barrel.
This morning, Brent futures slid 29 cents or 0.37% to $77.76 a barrel, and the WTI dipped 22 cents or 0.3% to $74.16 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures remained unchanged at $2,667.8 per Troy ounce.
