On Monday morning (27 January, 9:24 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), stocks in Asia Pacific traded mostly higher as investors were digesting the Chinese official purchasing managers’ index for January that came below expectations as well as in contraction.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 dipped 0.55% to 39,710.84 points, while Korea’s Kospi rose 0.85% to 2,536.80 points and Australia’s ASX200 increased 0.36% to 8,480.90 points.
Shanghai SSEC gained 0.54% to 3,270.28 points, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.98% to 20,263.28 points, but Shenzhen Composite fell 0.42% to 10,249.67 points.
According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday, the official purchasing managers’ index for January stood at 49.1, falling short of Reuters’ poll estimate of 50.1 for expansion. In December, China’s industrial profits saw an 11% surge compared to the same period a year ago, marking the first increase since July. Industrial profits for the full year of 2024 decreased by 3.3% compared to the previous year, continuing the downward trend for the third consecutive year.
Following a week focused on President Donald Trump’s return to the White House, the S&P 500 closed lower after reaching new highs on Friday as investors opted to take some profits. The index dipped by 0.3% to 6,101.24, retracting from its earlier intraday record.
Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite fell by 0.5% to 19,954.30, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid by 140.82 points, or 0.3%, to 44,424.25.
This decline on Friday marked the end of a four-day winning streak for the three major indexes.
Brent crude futures declined last Friday by 87 cents or 1.11%, to $77.63 per barrel at 0043 GMT, following a 21-cent increase in the previous session’s settlement. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped to $73.77 per barrel, down by 89 cents or 1.19%.
Crude oil extended the decline on Monday as Brent shed another 0.94% to $77.76 per barrel and WTI lost 1.02% to trade at $73.90 a barrel.
Meanwhile, spot gold edged up by 0.7% to $2,773.02 per ounce, nearing the record high of $2,790.15 reached on October 31st, with prices having risen by 2.9% for the current week.
