On Wednesday morning (19 November, 9:38 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), major indices in Asia Pacific increased, breaking ranks with declines on Wall Street as ongoing worries over artificial intelligence valuations weighed on technology shares.
In the U.S., President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he is considering both unexpected and well-known candidates to potentially replace Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chair, reiterating his criticism of Powell’s performance and confirming Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is not interested in the role.
Japan’s NIKKEI rose by 0.52% to 48,956.43. South Korea’s KOSPI grew by 0.23% to 3,962.53, and Australia’s ASX 200 edged up by 0.07% to 8,475.40.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC increased by 0.23% to 3,948.82. Shenzhen’s SZI surged by 0.11% to 13,094.78, and Hong Kong’s HSI climbed by 0.07% to 25,947.94.
The U.S. stock markets edged down on Tuesday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 1.07% to 46,091.74. NASDAQ dropped by 1.21% to 22,432.84, and S&P 500 contracted by 0.83% to 6,617.32. VIX jumped by 10.32% to 24.69.
As for commodities, oil prices settled higher on Tuesday as investors evaluated the effects of Western sanctions on Russian crude exports and took note of President Donald Trump’s announcement that his administration has begun interviewing candidates for the Federal Reserve chair. Brent crude gained 69 cents, or 1.07%, to close at $64.89 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 83 cents, or 1.39%, to $60.74 per barrel.
This morning, Brent crude futures decreased 25 cents, or 0.39%, to $64.64 per barrel, and the WTI declined 20 cents, or 0.33%, to $60.54 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures slid by 0.08% to $4,063.40 per Troy ounce.
