On Friday morning (10 October, 9:46 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), most indices in Asia Pacific exhibited a downward trend, mirroring losses on Wall Street, as the U.S. government shutdown continues.
Markets in South Korea are back online after long holidays, with its major stocks like SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics hitting record highs, following optimism seen among AI-related equities after the OpenAI and AMD deals.
Meanwhile, Nvidia has posted a 2.6% rise this week, with CEO Jensen Huang citing a recent uptick in demand and confirming the company’s participation in funding Elon Musk’s AI venture, xAI.
Japan’s NIKKEI slumped by 1.01% to 48,087.75. Australia’s ASX 200 dipped by 0.08% to 8,963, while South Korea’s KOSPI rose by 1.31% to 3,595.67.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC fell by 0.05% to 3,932.19. Shenzhen’s SZI declined by 0.85% to 13,608.86, and Hong Kong’s HSI contracted by 0.81% to 26,535.08.
The U.S. stock markets edged down on Thursday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) decreased by 0.52% to 46,358.42. NASDAQ slid by 0.08% to 23,024.62, and S&P 500 lost 0.28% to 6,735.11. VIX surged by 0.8% to 16.43.
As for commodities, oil prices settled lower on Thursday after Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire, which includes Israel partially withdrawing from Gaza and Hamas releasing all remaining hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, marking the initial stage of U.S. President Donald Trump’s effort to end the conflict. Brent crude futures dropped $1.03, or 1.6%, to close at $65.22 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude settled down $1.04, or 1.7%, at $61.51.
This morning, Brent futures gained 4 cents, or 0.06%, to $65.26 a barrel, and the WTI grew 8 cents, or 0.13%, to $61.59 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures expanded by 0.73% to $4,001.6 per Troy ounce.
