Equity benchmarks across Asia-Pacific moved in different directions on Thursday (1 October, 9:30 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), while government debt markets worldwide stayed under strain after a punishing September.
U.S. price data for August came in softer than forecast, reducing the odds that the Federal Reserve will tighten policy again at its October meeting. That did not translate into broad buying across the region. Strong results from AI chipmaker Micron also did little to brighten sentiment, and the deadlock in talks between Washington and Tehran over ending the seven-month conflict in the Middle East kept crude at elevated levels.
According to the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index gained 0.3% month on month in August, below the 0.4% median forecast in a Reuters poll. July’s gain was revised to 0.1% from 0.2%. A 4.4% recovery in gasoline costs accounted for the monthly increase, while food prices were flat.
On a yearly basis, PCE inflation stood at 3.4% in August, level with the revised July figure. July had originally been reported at 3.7%.
Attention now turns to the U.S. jobs report, due later this week.
In the early session on Thursday, Japan’s NIKKEI climbed 2.26% to 68,262.10, while Australia’s ASX 200 retreated 1.54% to 8,654.00. Kospi saw marginal change in the morning, staying at 6,839.67 points.
In China, Shanghai’s SSEC rose 0.31% to 3,842.20, and Hong Kong’s HSI advanced 0.37% to 24,613.27.
On Wall Street, Wednesday’s session ended with no common direction. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.86% to 50,906.05, and the S&P 500 slipped 0.25% to 7,651.54. NASDAQ inched up 0.24% to 26,861.06.
In commodities, crude closed higher on Wednesday as the stalemate in U.S.-Iran negotiations kept supply worries in view. The Brent November contract, which expired that day, settled 91 cents, or 0.9%, higher at $103.50 per barrel. The more actively traded December contract gained $1.87, or 1.9%, to $98.03. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude ended $1.04, or 1.2%, higher at $90.42 per barrel.
In early trading today, Brent was roughly flat at $103.53 per barrel, while WTI futures eased 10 cents, or 0.11%, to $90.32 per barrel.
Gold futures edged down 0.05% to $4,184.80 per Troy ounce, whereas silver futures gained 0.87% to $61.09 per ounce.
