On Friday morning (31 October, 9:24 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), most major indices in Asia Pacific increased as investors reacted to a pause in tensions between the United States and China after discussions between President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping.
The leaders made progress during a pivotal gathering in South Korea on Thursday, easing a standoff related to rare earth minerals that had risked igniting a comprehensive trade conflict between the two nations.
According to analysis from JPMorgan Asset Management, both countries seem to be preserving certain measures as points of negotiation for future talks, using these as part of their strategy to maintain leverage.
Japan’s NIKKEI rose by 1.04% to 51,859.83. South Korea’s KOSPI surged by 0.79% to 4,119.01, and Australia’s ASX 200 grew by 0.40% to 8,921.10.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC contracted by 0.24% to 3,977.41. Hong Kong’s HSI decreased by 0.15% to 26,243.55, while Shenzhen’s SZI advanced by 0.46% to 13,594.66.
The U.S. stock markets edged down on Thursday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) dipped by 0.23% to 47,522.12. NASDAQ slumped by 1.58% to 23,581.14, and S&P 500 lost 0.99% to 6,822.34. VIX declined by 0.06% to 16.91.
As for commodities, oil prices remained largely unchanged on Thursday as traders weighed the impact of a possible easing in trade tensions between the U.S. and China. This followed a move by U.S. President Donald Trump to reduce tariffs on Chinese goods after talks with President Xi Jinping in South Korea. Brent crude futures edged up by 8 cents, or 0.1%, closing at $65.00 per barrel. Meanwhile, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude increased by 9 cents, or 0.1%, ending the session at $60.57 per barrel.
This morning, Brent crude futures dropped 24 cents, or 0.37%, to $64.76 per barrel, and the WTI shrank 26 cents, or 0.43%, to $60.31 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures added 0.21% to $4,024.20 per Troy ounce.
