On Friday morning (8 August, 9:07 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), most indices in Asia Pacific exhibited a downward trend, following a lackluster session in the U.S. where two out of three major Wall Street indices ended the day in the red.
Investor sentiment has grown more pessimistic, with bearish views among individual investors on stocks for the next six months jumping sharply, according to the latest American Association of Individual Investors survey.
Despite this unease, some strategists interpret the negativity as a positive sign, suggesting that the current caution may prompt traders to re-enter the market and push stocks higher. Historically, investor sentiment acts as a contrarian indicator—when retail investors are bearish, it often signals an opportunity for gains.
South Korea’s KOSPI dropped 0.37% to 3,215.77. Australia’s ASX 200 dipped by 0.19% to 8,814.7, while Japan’s NIKKEI jumped 2.02% to 41,887.07.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC declined by 0.28% to 3,629.42. Hong Kong’s HSI contracted by 0.67% to 24,913.91, and Shenzhen’s SZI fell by 0.3% to 11,124.1.
The U.S. stock markets edged down on Thursday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 0.51% to 43,968.64. S&P 500 shrank by 0.08% to 6,340, while NASDAQ increased by 0.35% to 21,242.7. VIX slumped by 1.19% to 16.57.
As for commodities, oil prices settled lower on Thursday as markets reacted to news from the Kremlin indicating an upcoming meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, fueling hopes that diplomacy could bring an end to the conflict in Ukraine. Brent futures decreased 46 cents or 0.7% to $66.43 a barrel, and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) slid 47 cents or 0.7% to $63.88 per barrel.
This morning, Brent futures climbed 1 cent or 0.02% to $66.44 a barrel, while the WTI futures slid 2 cents or 0.03% to $63.86 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures advanced by 1% to $3,488.3 per Troy ounce.
