On Tuesday morning (9 December, 9:20 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), most major indices in Asia Pacific exhibited a downward trend, tracking the downturn seen on Wall Street as investors remained cautious before the U.S. Federal Reserve’s upcoming interest rate decision on December 10 stateside.
Market participants anticipate that the central bank will lower rates by an additional 25 basis points, which would adjust the Federal Funds rate to a range of 3.5% to 3.75%. Analysts noted that the Fed is likely to adopt a more data-driven approach moving forward.
Japan’s NIKKEI slid by 0.03% to 50,567.85. South Korea’s KOSPI declined by 0.55% to 4,131.93, and Australia’s ASX 200 dropped by 0.20% to 8,606.90.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC dipped by 0.06% to 3,921.64. Hong Kong’s HSI fell by 0.43% to 25,655.40, while Shenzhen’s SZI rose by 0.42% to 13,385.84.
The U.S. stock markets edged down on Monday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 0.45% to 47,739.32. NASDAQ decreased by 0.14% to 23,545.90, and S&P 500 shrank by 0.35% to 6,846.51. VIX surged by 8.11% to 16.66.
As for commodities, oil prices settled lower on Monday as Iraq resumed output at an oilfield accounting for 0.5% of the global supply, while investors monitored the progress of negotiations aimed at resolving the conflict in Ukraine. Brent crude futures dropped $1.26, or 1.98%, to $62.49 per barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude slid $1.20, or 2%, to $58.88 a barrel.
This morning, Brent crude futures diminished 2 cents, or 0.03%, to $62.47 per barrel, and the WTI slid 6 cents, or 0.10%, to $58.82 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures increased 0.16% to $4,224.50 per Troy ounce.
