On Monday morning (30 December, 9:26 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), indices in Asia Pacific traded mixed amid South Korea’s political unrest and industrial data. Meanwhile, Wall Street exhibited a downward trend last Friday.
South Korea experienced a tragic air accident on Sunday, resulting in 179 fatalities after a Jeju Air plane crashed at Muan International Airport.
The country’s industrial production fell by 0.7% in November from the previous month, exceeding Reuters’ forecast of a 0.4% decrease. On an annual basis, the figure increased by 0.1%, below Reuters’ anticipated 0.4% growth and contrasting with October’s 6.3% rise.
As for Japan, the au Jibun Bank Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 49.6 in December, slightly higher than November’s 49.0 and indicating the mildest contraction in three months.
Investors will keep a close watch on China’s manufacturing PMI set to be released on Tuesday, while markets will be shut on Wednesday for the New Year’s Day holiday.
Japan’s NIKKEI dropped by 0.67% to 40,013.02. Australia’s ASX 200 contracted by 0.64% to 8,209.2, while South Korea’s KOSPI grew by 0.7% to 2,421.68.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC climbed by 0.2% to 3,406.87. Shenzhen’s SZI increased by 0.51% to 10,714.56, while Hong Kong’s HSI slid by 0.15% to 20,059.43.
Meanwhile, the US stock markets edged down on Friday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) declined by 0.77% to 42,992.21. NASDAQ slumped by 1.49% to 19,722.03, and S&P 500 lost 1.11% to 5,970.84. VIX jumped by 8.28% to 15.95.
As for commodities, oil prices settled higher on Friday in light trading activity before the year’s end, supported by a larger-than-anticipated decrease in U.S. crude stockpiles the previous week. Brent futures surged 91 cents or 1.2% to $74.17 a barrel, and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) added 98 cents or 1.4% to $70.60 per barrel.
This morning, Brent futures rose 8 cents or 0.11% to $74.25 a barrel, and the WTI edged up 7 cents or 0.10% to $70.67 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures escalated 0.19% to $2,636.8 per Troy ounce.
