On Monday morning (18 November, 9:24 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), major indices in Asia Pacific traded mixed ahead of a slew of economic data coming in the week.
This week’s notable data releases in Asia will encompass China’s loan prime rate announcement on Wednesday. ING Group forecasts no alterations to China’s LPR, maintaining the one-year rate at 3.1% and the five-year rate at 3.6%.
As for Japan, the country is scheduled to disclose trade data on Tuesday and October’s headline inflation figures on Friday. Meanwhile, Australia’s central bank is set to unveil minutes from its recent meeting on Tuesday.
Japan’s NIKKEI declined by 0.72% to 38,363.27. Australia’s ASX 200 slid by 0.02% to 8,283.5, while South Korea’s KOSPI jumped by 2.19% to 2,469.86.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC surged by 0.96% to 3,362.61. Hong Kong’s HSI gained 1.03% to 19,626.18, while Shenzhen’s SZI dipped by 0.4% to 10,706.22.
Meanwhile, the US stock markets edged down on Friday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 0.7% to 43,444.99. NASDAQ plummeted by 2.24% to 18,680.12, and S&P 500 diminished by 1.32% to 5,870.62. VIX soared by 12.79% to 16.14.
As for commodities, oil prices settled lower on Friday amid concerns of an impending oversupply and the strength of the dollar weighing on the market. Brent futures decreased $1.52 or 2.09% to $71.04 a barrel, and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) dropped $1.68 or 2.45% to $67.02 per barrel.
This morning, Brent futures grew 20 cents or 0.28% to $71.24 a barrel, and the WTI rose 9 cents or 0.13% to $67.11 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures added 1.06% to $2,597.4 per Troy ounce.
