On Friday morning (1 November, 9:33 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), most indices in Asia Pacific decreased, mirroring the decline in Wall Street, which saw the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 have their worst day in almost two months due to gloomy forecasts from Microsoft and results from Meta. Market participants in Asia were analyzing various economic indicators from the region.
In China, the Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers’ index for October surpassed expectations by reaching 50.3, based on a private survey, outperforming the median forecast of 49.7 from a Reuters poll. This marked a rebound from September’s 49.3.
Meanwhile, Australia’s producer prices index for the third quarter rose by 3.9% year-on-year, showing a significant decrease from the 4.8% increase in the previous quarter. On a quarterly basis, the index increased by 0.9%, compared to a 1% rise in the preceding quarter.
Japan’s NIKKEI slumped by 2.3% to 38,182.9. South Korea’s KOSPI slid by 0.09% to 2,553.75, and Australia’s ASX 200 dropped by 1.02% to 8,077.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC dipped by 0.31% to 3,269.58. Shenzhen’s SZI declined by 1.12% to 10,473.05, while Hong Kong’s HSI grew by 0.66% to 20,451.49.
Meanwhile, the US stock markets exhibited a downward trend on Thursday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) decreased by 0.9% to 41,763.46. NASDAQ plummeted by 2.76% to 18,095.15, and S&P 500 contracted by 1.86% to 5,705.45. VIX soared by 13.81% to 23.16.
As for commodities, oil prices settled higher on Thursday, with investors factoring in heightened U.S. fuel consumption and the likelihood of OPEC+ postponing a scheduled production boost in December, just five days before the U.S. election. Brent futures gained 61 cents or 0.84% to $73.16 a barrel, and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose 65 cents or 0.95% to $69.26 per barrel.
This morning, Brent futures remained unchanged at $73.16 a barrel, while the WTI surged $1.19 or 1.72% to $70.45 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures climbed 0.29% to $2,757.2 per Troy ounce.
