On Thursday morning (6 March, 9:16 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), most major indices in Asia Pacific exhibited an upward trend following the positive trend on Wall Street fueled by the delay of tariffs on specific automakers by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The White House on Wednesday disclosed a postponement of tariffs for automakers producing vehicles in line with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement by one month. Karoline Leavitt, spokesperson for the White House, mentioned that President Trump was receptive to granting further exemptions from tariffs in addition to the temporary halt on auto duties.
In South Korea, the country’s inflation rate dropped in February, marking the first decrease in four months to 2% year-on-year, down from 2.2% in January. However, this slight dip still surpassed the 1.95% forecasted by economists surveyed by Reuters, indicating the potential for South Korea’s central bank to implement additional rate cuts amid economic slowdown.
Japan’s NIKKEI rose by 0.96% to 37,777.35. South Korea’s KOSPI grew by 0.77% to 2,577.77, while Australia’s ASX 200 contracted by 0.53% to 8,097.8.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC surged by 0.72% to 3,365.92. Hong Kong’s HSI soared by 2.35% to 24,149.53, and Shenzhen’s SZI jumped by 1.21% to 10,839.2.
Meanwhile, the US stock markets edged up on Wednesday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 1.14% to 43,006.59. NASDAQ expanded by 1.46% to 18,552.73, and S&P 500 increased by 1.12% to 5,842.63. VIX dropped by 6.72% to 21.93.
As for commodities, oil prices settled lower for the fourth straight session on Wednesday following a higher-than-anticipated increase in U.S. crude oil inventories, intensifying concerns for investors already uneasy about OPEC+ intentions to boost output in April and looming U.S. tariffs on Canada, China, and Mexico. Brent futures decreased $1.74 or 2.45% to $69.30 a barrel, and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) slumped $1.95 or 2.86% to $66.31 per barrel.
This morning, Brent futures escalated 49 cents or 0.71% to $69.79 a barrel, and the WTI added 49 cents or 0.74% to $66.8 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures climbed 0.33% to $2,935.6 per Troy ounce.
