Asia Pacific Markets Fall after Japan’s Weaker GDP Data and US Jobless Claims

On Friday (8 Sep) morning, all Asia Pacific indices fell after Japan Q2 GDP growth came out at 4.8% YoY, which was lower than expected of 6% YoY but still higher than 3.2% YoY in previous month. Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s HSI halted its morning trade due to the storm and US published a lesser initial jobless claim at 216,000 claims and also better than expected at 234,000 claims.

 

Japan’s NIKKEI  is leading the loss over 1%, dropping the index down to 32,660. New Zealand NZX 50 is following as the second, losing by 0.7%, moving the index down to 11,340. Shenzhen’s SZI is also at loss by 0.5%, plunging the index down to 10,260. Meanwhile, other major indices are at the downside with lesser than 0.4% on average.

 

Meanwhile, US Futures indices are still trending down after tech stocks slipped last night. The S&P 500 drops to 4450 and NASDAQ also drops to 15,280. The US dollar is still strong as the DXY remains at 104.9.

WTI crude oil slightly dropped to $86.3 per barrel and Brent fell to $89.4 per barrel, a $1 drop each compared to yesterday. In addition, gold price rose slightly back to $1,950 per Troy ounce.