On Tuesday morning (1 April, 9:27 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), major indices in Asia Pacific increased following gains in two major Wall Street indices as investors anticipated updates on the implementation of tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump.
In China, the Caixin PMI for March exceeded economists’ expectations, reaching 51.2, slightly higher than the predicted 51.1 in Reuters’ poll and up from the previous month’s 50.8 reading.
The Reserve Bank of Australia is set to hold a policy meeting on Tuesday. Expectations loom for the central bank to maintain its interest rates at 4.1% while the country gears up for elections on May 3.
For Japan, business sentiment among the nation’s largest manufacturers deteriorated in the first quarter of the year. The headline index, which gauges big manufacturers’ business confidence, declined to +12 in March from +14 in December, marking the lowest reading in the past four quarters.
The unemployment rate in February decreased to 2.4%, down from 2.5% in the previous month. This marks the lowest rate since December 2024.
Japan’s NIKKEI rose by 0.66% to 35,851.09. South Korea’s KOSPI jumped by 1.58% to 2,520.28, and Australia’s ASX 200 escalated by 0.37% to 7,872.7.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC grew by 0.54% to 3,353.82. Hong Kong’s HSI surged by 0.84% to 23,312.74, and Shenzhen’s SZI increased by 0.6% to 10,567.39.
Meanwhile, the US stock markets edged up on Monday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 1% to 42,001.76. S&P 500 rose by 0.55% to 5,611.85, while NASDAQ slid by 0.14% to 17,299.29. VIX soared by 2.91% to 22.28.
As for commodities, oil prices settled higher on Monday amid concerns that the threat of increased tariffs on Russia and the potential for military action against Iran by U.S. President Donald Trump could lead to a decrease in supplies. Brent futures added $1.11 or 1.5% to $74.74 a barrel, and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) expanded $2.12 or 3.1% to $71.48 per barrel.
This morning, Brent futures edged up 17 cents or 0.23% to $74.94 a barrel, and the WTI climbed 16 cents or 0.22% to $71.64 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures grew 0.56% to $3,167.9 per Troy ounce.
