On Friday morning (26 December, 9:17 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), major indices in the Asia Pacific increased, while multiple regional exchanges, including those in Australia and Hong Kong, were closed in observance of the Boxing Day holiday.
In Japan, government figures released showed Tokyo’s core consumer price index climbed 2.3% in December compared to the same month last year. This measure, which removes volatile fresh food prices, remained above the Bank of Japan’s 2% inflation target, supporting the likelihood of further interest rate increases.
However, the latest inflation figure fell short of economist forecasts in a Reuters poll, which anticipated a 2.5% rise. It was also lower than November’s 2.8% gain.
Japan’s NIKKEI surged by 0.89% to 50,856.36, and South Korea’s KOSPI grew by 0.68% to 4,136.52.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC rose by 0.14% to 3,965.24, and Shenzhen’s SZI gained 0.32% to 13,575.25.
The U.S. stock markets were closed on Thursday for the Christmas holiday.
As for commodities, oil prices edged up on Friday following heightened U.S. economic sanctions against Venezuelan oil shipments and American airstrikes targeting Islamic State fighters in northwest Nigeria, an operation conducted at the request of the Nigerian government. Brent crude futures were up 24 cents, or 0.4%, trading at $62.48 per barrel as of 0114 GMT. Meanwhile, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude increased by 23 cents, also reflecting a 0.4% gain, to $58.58 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures expanded by 0.68% to $4,533.30 per Troy ounce.
