On Friday morning (30 May, 9:51 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), most major indices in Asia Pacific exhibited a downward trend as concerns over a decelerating U.S. economy, persistent inflation, and political uncertainty stemming from recent U.S. court rulings on tariffs unsettled global markets.
The downturn followed a decision from the U.S. Court of International Trade on Wednesday, which determined that former President Donald Trump exceeded his presidential powers in instituting so-called “reciprocal” import duties. The court’s mandate required that the contested tariffs be eliminated.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration promptly filed for an appeal. On Thursday, an appeals court reinstated the tariffs, providing a temporary reprieve. Officials indicated they may seek intervention from the U.S. Supreme Court as soon as Friday to halt the lower court’s directive if needed.
In Japan, core consumer inflation in Tokyo accelerated more than anticipated in May, with prices excluding fresh food climbing 3.6% from a year earlier, up from a 3.4% gain in April.
This marks the fastest annual increase since January 2023 and edged above expectations from analysts surveyed by Reuters, who had projected a 3.5% uptick.
For South Korea, the country’s industrial production contracted by 0.9% month-on-month in April on a seasonally adjusted basis. The decline reverses a sharp 2.9% increase reported in March and missed analyst expectations, with a Reuters survey calling for 0.5% growth.
Japan’s NIKKEI slumped by 1.41% to 37,890.86. South Korea’s KOSPI fell by 0.55% to 2,705.81, while Australia’s ASX 200 rose by 0.15% to 8,422.1.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC dropped by 0.61% to 3,342.96. Hong Kong’s HSI plummeted by 1.71% to 23,170.96, and Shenzhen’s SZI contracted by 0.99% to 10,026.56.
Meanwhile, the US stock markets edged up on Thursday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 0.28% to 42,215.73. NASDAQ surged by 0.39% to 19,175.87, and S&P 500 increased by 0.4% to 5,912.17. VIX slid by 0.67% to 19.18.
As for commodities, oil prices settled lower on Thursday as markets reacted to a U.S. court blocking Trump’s reciprocal tariffs. Moreover, investors also monitored possible new U.S. sanctions on Russian crude and awaited the upcoming output decision for July from OPEC+. Brent futures lost 75 cents or 1.2% to $64.15 a barrel, and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) decreased 90 cents or 1.5% to $60.94 per barrel.
This morning, Brent futures dipped 26 cents or 0.41% to $63.89 a barrel, and the WTI futures declined 26 cents or 0.43% to $60.68 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures edged down 0.6% to $3,297.3 per Troy ounce.
