On Friday morning (9 January, 9:01 AM, GMT+7, Bangkok time), most major indices in the Asia Pacific increased as investors evaluated the latest inflation figures from China.
China’s inflation accelerated in December to its fastest pace in almost three years. Consumer prices rose 0.8% year-on-year, the highest reading since February 2023. This marks an improvement from November’s 0.7% increase and is in line with economists’ expectations as surveyed by Reuters.
Core inflation—which strips out the more volatile food and energy price changes—remained steady at 1.2% year-over-year growth in December, mirroring the rate seen in the previous month.
Meanwhile, market participants are also monitoring developments in the United States, as a key jobs report and a potential Supreme Court ruling on the legality of President Donald Trump’s tariffs could influence global trade dynamics and fiscal policy.
Japan’s NIKKEI rose by 0.58% to 51,413.44. Australia’s ASX 200 grew by 0.25% to 8,742.80, while South Korea’s KOSPI declined by 0.54% to 4,527.82.
As for stocks in China, Shanghai’s SSEC surged by 0.20% to 4,091.17. Shenzhen’s SZI gained 0.17% to 13,982.74, and Hong Kong’s HSI added 0.17% to 26,192.50.
The U.S. stock markets were mixed on Thursday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) expanded by 0.55% to 49,266.11. S&P 500 climbed by 0.01% to 6,921.46, while NASDAQ dropped by 0.44% to 23,480.01. VIX escalated by 0.46% to 15.45.
As for commodities, oil prices settled higher on Thursday as the market weighed supply risks stemming from Venezuela and evaluated ongoing uncertainty surrounding Russian, Iraqi, and Iranian supplies. Brent crude settled up $2.03, or 3.4%, to finish the session at $61.99 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude also advanced, rising $1.77, or 3.2%, to close at $57.76 per barrel.
This morning, Brent crude futures increased 38 cents, or 0.61%, to $62.37 per barrel, and the WTI rose by 31 cents, or 0.54%, to $58.07 per barrel.
Meanwhile, gold futures edged up by 0.26% to $4,472.30 per Troy ounce.
