On Friday morning (19 Apr, 9:10 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), major indices in Asia Pacific fell as Japan’s Nikkei led losses after the country announced March inflation data, including headline inflation rate of 2.7%, a decrease from 2.8% seen in February, and the conforming to expectations polled by Reuters core inflation rate of 2.6%.
However, the overall markets were in a bad shape after Israel launched an attack on Iran, causing a huge explosion in Isfahan, Iran.
Japan’s NIKKEI slumped by 3.02% to 36,929.4. South Korea’s KOSPI dropped by 2.24% to 2,575.81, and Australia’s ASX 200 declined by 1.53% to 7,525.5.
As for stocks in China, Shenzhen’s SZI slid by 0.32% to 9,347.16. Hong Kong’s HSI decreased by 1.09% to 16,207.04, while Shanghai’s SSEC rose by 0.14% to 3,078.45.
Meanwhile, the US stock markets edged down on Thursday as NASDAQ contracted by 0.52% to 15,601.5. S&P 500 lost 0.22% to 5,011.12, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) climbed by 0.06% to 37,775.38. VIX decreased by 1.15% to 18.
As for commodities, oil prices surged by $3 per barrel on Friday after Israel started attacking Iran, following unconfirmed reports of explosions in Iran, which led to concerns about potential disruptions in Middle East oil supply.
Brent futures saw a significant increase of $3.03 or 3.5%, reaching $90.14 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude also rose by $3.03 or 3.66% to $85.76 per barrel in the morning of the Asian trading session.
Meanwhile, gold futures increased by 1.1% to $2,424.4 per Troy ounce.
