Asia-Pacific Markets Rally; U.S. Stocks Retreat from Highs
Global Markets:
- Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei up 2.37%, Shanghai Composite up 1.94%, Hang Seng up 2.85% ASX up 0.95
- Commodities : Gold at $2685.35 (0.14%), Silver at $32.10 (0.54%), Brent Oil at $72.18 (-1.56%), WTI Oil at $68.16 (-1.47%)
- Rates : US 10-year yield at 3.788, UK 10-year yield at 3.992, Germany 10-year yield at 2.189
News & Data:
- (USD) New Home Sales 716K vs 699K expected
- (USD) Crude Oil Inventories -4.5M vs -1.3M expected
Markets Update:
Asia-Pacific markets surged on Thursday, led by Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index and mainland Chinese stocks, both continuing their upward trend. The Hang Seng Index climbed 3%, reaching its highest point since May, while China’s CSI 300 extended its winning streak for a seventh consecutive day, rising 1.58%. This gain came after Beijing introduced a series of economic stimulus measures earlier in the week, pushing the index to its highest level in nearly two months.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced by 2.51%, with the broader Topix gaining 2.12%, following the release of the Bank of Japan’s July meeting minutes. Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kospi jumped 2.41%, driven by a strong performance from SK Hynix, which surged over 8% after announcing the start of mass production for the world’s first 12-layer HBM3E chip, designed for AI memory applications. The smaller Kosdaq also gained 2.18%.Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.98%, reflecting the overall positive momentum in the region.
In contrast, U.S. markets experienced a mixed performance overnight. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 both pulled back from recent highs, losing 0.7% and 0.19% respectively, despite earlier record-setting levels. The Nasdaq Composite managed to eke out a marginal gain of 0.04%.
Upcoming Events:
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- 12:30 PM GMT – USD Unemployment Claims
