On Wednesday morning (13 August, 9:18 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), most indices in Asia Pacific increased, mirroring a trend seen in Wall Street as fresh U.S. inflation figures fueled optimism for a potential Federal Reserve rate cut as early as next month.
U.S. consumer prices edged up 0.2% in July, matching economists’ expectations, while the annual inflation rate hit 2.7%, slightly below projections of 2.8%. The core consumer price index—stripping out the more volatile food and energy categories—rose 0.3% for the month, in line with expectations, and 3.1% year-over-year, coming in just above the anticipated 3%.
Policymakers at the Federal Reserve often pay particular attention to core inflation as a measure of sustained price pressures. Notably, the monthly core reading was the highest increase since January, and the year-over-year core rate reached its strongest level since February.
Japan’s NIKKEI surged by 1.29% to 43,271.21. South Korea’s KOSPI rose by 0.38% to 3,202.03, while Australia’s ASX 200 dropped by 0.71% to 8,817.7.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC climbed by 0.19% to 3,672.93. Hong Kong’s HSI expanded by 1.03% to 25,227.41, and Shenzhen’s SZI grew by 0.46% to 11,403.40.
The U.S. stock markets edged up on Tuesday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 1.1% to 44,458.61. NASDAQ escalated by 1.39% to 21,681.90, and S&P 500 added 1.13% to 6,445.76. VIX plummeted by 9.35% to 14.73.
As for commodities, oil prices settled lower on Tuesday, with investors exercising caution ahead of the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s upcoming inventory update. Market participants are also starting to factor in expectations of weaker demand as the summer driving season nears its end in early September. Brent futures lost 51 cents or 0.77% to $66.12 a barrel, and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) declined 79 cents or 1.24% to $63.17 per barrel.
This morning, Brent futures slid 2 cents or 0.03% to $66.1 a barrel, and the WTI futures dipped 9 cents or 0.14% to $63.08 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures fell by 0.04% to $3,397.7 per Troy ounce.
