On Monday morning (22 December, 9:14 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), major indices in the Asia Pacific exhibited an upward trend as market participants assessed the People’s Bank of China’s move to maintain its benchmark lending rates.
The central bank opted to leave both its 1-year loan prime rate, which primarily guides the cost of most new and existing loans, at 3% and the 5-year rate, which is a key reference for mortgage lending, at 3.5% unchanged for a seventh consecutive meeting, matching expectations from a Reuters poll.
Japan’s NIKKEI jumped by 2.01% to 50,501.98. South Korea’s KOSPI soared by 1.68% to 4,088.22, and Australia’s ASX 200 rose by 0.92% to 8,700.70.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC grew by 0.64% to 3,915.47. Shenzhen’s SZI advanced by 1.33% to 13,314.30, and Hong Kong’s HSI increased by 0.30% to 25,767.39.
The U.S. stock markets edged up on Friday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) climbed by 0.38% to 48,134.89. NASDAQ gained 1.31% to 23,307.62, and S&P 500 surged by 0.88% to 6,834.50. VIX slumped by 11.62% to 14.91.
As for commodities, oil prices settled higher on Friday amid concerns over potential supply disruptions following a possible U.S. blockade of Venezuelan tankers, as traders also monitored developments regarding a prospective peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine. Brent crude climbed 65 cents, or 1.1%, to close at $60.47 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude settled 51 cents higher, up 0.9%, at $56.66 per barrel.
This morning, Brent crude futures expanded 45 cents, or 0.74%, to $60.92 per barrel, and the WTI escalated 42 cents, or 0.74%, to $56.94 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures rose by 0.65% to $4,415.90 per Troy ounce.
