On Monday morning (18 August, 9:07 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), most indices in Asia Pacific exhibited an upward trend with market participants keeping a close watch on developments related to discussions between the U.S. and Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly agreed to a proposal that would allow the United States and European allies to extend NATO-style security assurances to Ukraine as part of efforts to halt the ongoing conflict, according to U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff.
The announcement follows a face-to-face meeting between the U.S. President Donald Trump and Putin in Alaska last Friday. The discussions, which insiders described as strikingly in sync on the goal of brokering a comprehensive peace settlement rather than prioritizing a temporary ceasefire, marked a notable alignment between Washington and Moscow on their approaches to ending the war.
Japan’s NIKKEI increased by 0.67% to 43,667.65. Australia’s ASX 200 surged by 0.22% to 8,958.3, while South Korea’s KOSPI dropped by 1.24% to 3,185.81.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC rose by 0.47% to 3,714.04. Shenzhen’s SZI grew by 0.81% to 11,729.24, and Hong Kong’s HSI advanced by 0.44% to 25,380.05.
The U.S. stock markets were mixed on Friday as NASDAQ decreased by 0.4% to 21,622.97. S&P 500 lost 0.29% to 6,449.8, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) climbed by 0.08% to 44,946.12. VIX expanded by 1.75% to 15.09.
As for commodities, oil prices declined on Monday after the United States held back from introducing additional actions to curb Russian oil exports following Friday’s meeting, easing concerns of heightened pressure on Moscow to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.
This morning, Brent futures slid by 7 cents or 0.11% to $65.78 a barrel, while the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) remained unchanged at $62.8 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures escalated by 0.27% to $3,391.7 per Troy ounce.
