On Friday morning (2 May, 9:19 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), most major indices in Asia Pacific exhibited an upward trend following China’s announcement of considering potential trade discussions with the United States. This rise also mirrored the positive momentum on Wall Street, where the three main indices had progressed, fueled by optimism that advancements in artificial intelligence would continue despite concerns over a global economic slowdown.
South Korea recorded a 2.1% year-on-year increase in inflation in April, matching the previous month’s rate and surpassed expectations from economists polled by Reuters of 2% growth. This figure may prompt the Bank of Korea to deliberate on potentially resuming its rate-cut strategy during the upcoming policy session scheduled for later this month.
Meanwhile, markets in China were closed for the Labor Day public holiday.
Japan’s NIKKEI increased by 0.58% to 36,665.07. Australia’s ASX 200 expanded by 0.72% to 8,204, while South Korea’s KOSPI slid by 0.07% to 2,554.7. Hong Kong’s HSI jumped by 1.17% to 22,378.21.
Meanwhile, the US stock markets edged up on Thursday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) rose by 0.21% to 40,752.96. NASDAQ grew by 1.52% to 17,710.74, and S&P 500 gained 0.63% to 5,604.14. VIX dropped by 0.4% to 24.6.
As for commodities, oil prices settled higher on Thursday in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s warning of secondary sanctions on Iran following the postponement of the fourth round of U.S.-Iran discussions. Brent futures surged $1.07 or 1.8% to $62.13 a barrel, and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) added $1.03 or 1.8% to $59.24 per barrel.
This morning, Brent futures escalated 48 cents or 0.77% to $62.61 a barrel, and the WTI rose 50 cents or 0.84% to $59.74 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures increased 0.87% to $3,250.1 per Troy ounce.
