On Friday morning (28 November, 9:31 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), major indices in Asia Pacific traded mixed as U.S. stock futures remained largely unchanged during the Thanksgiving holiday.
Investors in the region turned their attention to newly released economic indicators, with a particular focus on Tokyo’s latest inflation figures—a key signal for Japan’s wider price movements.
Data showed that headline inflation in Japan’s capital dipped to 2.7% in October, easing from 2.8% in September. Meanwhile, core inflation—which excludes fresh food prices but factors in energy—rose to 2.8%. That reading was slightly above the 2.7% forecast by economists surveyed by Reuters and surpasses the Bank of Japan’s 2% benchmark, reinforcing expectations for a possible interest rate increase in the near future.
Japan’s NIKKEI slid by 0.14% to 50,095.02. South Korea’s KOSPI declined by 0.97% to 3,948.35, and Australia’s ASX 200 remained largely unchanged at 8,617.00.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC rose by 0.14% to 3,880.51. Shenzhen’s SZI grew by 0.40% to 12,926.05, while Hong Kong’s HSI dipped by 0.16% to 25,904.74.
U.S. financial markets were shut on Thursday in observance of Thanksgiving Day. Trading is scheduled to end early on Friday, with the stock market closing at 1 PM Eastern Time.
As for commodities, oil prices settled higher on Thursday as investors assessed the prospects of diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, while trading activity was subdued amid the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. Brent crude futures finished the session 21 cents higher, gaining 0.2% to close at $63.34 per barrel. Meanwhile, U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose by 45 cents, or 0.8%, to $59.10 a barrel as of 1:46 PM ET (1846 GMT).
This morning, Brent crude futures climbed 1 cent, or 0.02%, to $63.35 per barrel, and the WTI increased 37 cents, or 0.63%, to $59.02 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures advanced by 0.53% to $4,187.40 per Troy ounce.
