On Tuesday morning (28 October, 9:24 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), most major indices in Asia Pacific declined as investors prepared for major technology earnings and policy updates from central banks during the week.
U.S. indices closed at new records following diplomatic progress between Beijing and Washington. Recent easing of trade tensions has supported the equity rally, and U.S. companies have largely managed to offset tariff impacts through price hikes and cost controls. However, these upbeat expectations face a test with upcoming Federal Reserve signals on future rate cuts and key earnings reports from tech giants such as Amazon and Microsoft.
President Trump expressed optimism on Monday about resolving trade issues with China. Some analysts, though, warned that the expected U.S.-China deal overlooks more challenging disputes. Meanwhile, Trump is anticipated to meet the newly elected Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi today.
Notably, Chinese bonds will also attract attention after reports that the People’s Bank of China plans to resume sovereign bond trading to support the market and liquidity.
Japan’s NIKKEI decreased by 0.38% to 50,319.18. South Korea’s KOSPI fell by 0.95% to 4,004.33, and Australia’s ASX 200 contracted by 0.4% to 9,019.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC slid by 0.14% to 3,991.16. Hong Kong’s HSI dipped by 0.11% to 26,404.65, while Shenzhen’s SZI climbed by 0.13% to 13,506.52.
The U.S. stock markets edged up on Monday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) increased by 0.71% to 47,544.59. NASDAQ gained 1.86% to 23,637.45, and S&P 500 rose by 1.23% to 6,875.16. VIX plummeted by 3.54% to 15.79.
As for commodities, oil prices settled lower on Monday as expectations of increased production from OPEC outweighed optimism surrounding a potential U.S.-China trade agreement and the reimposition of U.S. sanctions on Russia. Brent crude futures slipped by 32 cents, or close to 0.5%, to settle at $65.62 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures declined by 19 cents, or 0.3%, closing at $61.31 per barrel.
This morning, Brent crude futures grew 13 cents, or 0.2%, to $65.75 per barrel, and the WTI added 7 cents, or 0.11%, to $61.38 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures edged down by 0.02% to $4,018.8 per Troy ounce.
