On Wednesday (28 October, 9:24 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), most major indices in the Asia-Pacific followed gains on Wall Street amid strengthened sentiment toward artificial intelligence shares and developments surrounding oil prices.
U.S. stocks concluded Tuesday’s session in positive territory, buoyed by technology companies. Semiconductor-related shares performed notably well after Broadcom secured $63 billion in financing from a group of banks to support chip and networking solutions to be leased to Anthropic.
Markets also received a boost after crude prices declined. The drop came after media reports indicated that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, met with top security official Mohsen Rezaei to deliberate potential steps toward halting the conflict with the United States.
Separately, the Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. officials have urged several Gulf states to prepare for a brief but intense military engagement following the midterm elections, according to sources familiar with the discussions.
Attention now shifts to U.S. monetary policy as the Federal Reserve is set to conclude its latest two-day meeting on Wednesday stateside. The central bank is widely expected to hold the benchmark rate steady within the 3.75%–4% range after its most recent quarter-point hike in September.
The CME FedWatch tool indicates that markets assign about a 92% probability to rates remaining unchanged, although some investors anticipate that Fed Chair Kevin Warsh may signal openness to further increases at upcoming meetings.
Japan’s NIKKEI increased by 1.13% to 63,982.49. South Korea’s KOSPI soared by 6.25% to 5,990.82, and Australia’s ASX 200 climbed by 0.17% to 8,865.00.
Shanghai’s SSEC rose by 0.27% to 3,658.21. Shenzhen’s SZI grew by 0.83% to 11,339.52, while Hong Kong’s HSI slid by 0.07% to 23,025.88.
The U.S. stock markets edged up on Tuesday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) added 0.03% to 52,377.57. NASDAQ gained 1.18% to 26,477.81, and S&P 500 advanced by 0.60% to 7,722.60. VIX fell by 4.73% to 17.52.
As for commodities, oil prices settled lower on Tuesday, with diplomatic efforts to resolve the ongoing U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran continuing. Brent crude ended the trading session with a $1.93 decrease, or 1.67%, settling at $113.88 per barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude fell by $1.86, or 1.83%, to close at $99.90 per barrel.
This morning, Brent futures jumped $2.16, or 1.90%, to $116.04 per barrel, and WTI futures surged $1.47, or 1.47%, to $101.37 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures contracted by 0.35% to $4,060.30 per troy ounce.
