On Friday morning (3 October, 9:03 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), most indices in Asia Pacific increased, reflecting the positive momentum from Wall Street as market participants largely disregarded the impact of a shutdown in the U.S. government. Investors are closely monitoring the duration of the closure to gauge the potential severity of its economic impact. Historically, previous U.S. government shutdowns have not proved to be major catalysts for market volatility.
Meanwhile, this led to the suspension of all activities by the U.S. Labor Department, including the scheduled release of the September nonfarm payrolls report. The absence of this employment data, which the Federal Reserve typically considers when setting monetary policy, will reduce the economic insights available ahead of its October rate meeting. However, some observers note this also removes a possible pressure point on equities.
In Japan, the national unemployment rate edged up to 2.6% in August. This rate was above both the consensus estimate of 2.4% polled by Reuters and the previous month’s reading of 2.3%.
The S&P Global Japan services purchasing managers’ index increased to 53.3 in September, compared to 53.1 in August. The index was buoyed by stronger domestic consumption, even as new export business continued to weaken. An analyst noted that while Japan’s service providers saw another month of robust expansion, the manufacturing sector experienced a sharper drop in output due to tepid sales, causing the broader private sector to expand at its slowest pace since May.
Notably, markets in China and South Korea were closed for holidays.
Japan’s NIKKEI jumped by 1.53% to 45,622.28. Australia’s ASX 200 grew by 0.26% to 8,969.5, while Hong Kong’s HSI dropped by 0.53% to 27,141.92.
The U.S. stock markets edged up on Thursday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 0.17% to 46,519.72. NASDAQ rose by 0.39% to 22,844.05, and S&P 500 climbed by 0.06% to 6,715.35. VIX expanded by 2.09% to 16.63.
As for commodities, oil prices settled lower on Thursday, marking a fourth consecutive session of declines and reaching their lowest levels in four months. The downturn was driven by persistent worries over excess supply as investors awaited an upcoming OPEC+ meeting scheduled for this weekend. Brent crude futures declined $1.24, or 1.9%, ending the session at $64.11 per barrel—its weakest finish since June 2. U.S. West Texas Intermediate settled down $1.30, or 2.1%, at $60.48 a barrel, the lowest seen since May 30.
This morning, Brent futures surged 25 cents, or 0.39%, to $64.36 a barrel, and the WTI added 26 cents, or 0.43%, to $60.74 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures escalated by 0.39% to $3,883.2 per Troy ounce.
