04/09/2023
Today’s Announcements & News
Asia
Asia-Pacific markets had a mixed start to the week, with a focus on key data releases expected later in the week:
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 opened the week with a 0.37% gain.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed by 0.12%, and the Topix index was up by 0.16%.
South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.21%, while the Kosdaq experienced a 0.18% decline.
Notably, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was set to open weaker, with futures pointing to 18,304 compared to the HSI’s previous close of 18,382.06. Hong Kong’s markets were closed on Friday due to the impact of super typhoon Saola, which made landfall over the weekend.
Investors are eagerly awaiting key data releases later in the week, including the Reserve Bank of Australia’s rate decision on Tuesday and China’s trade balance for August on Thursday, followed by its inflation rate next weekend. These releases are likely to have a significant impact on market sentiment in the region.
US
On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and other major U.S. stock indexes experienced mixed performance as traders assessed the latest U.S. jobs report.
The 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 115.80 points or 0.33% to close at 34,837.71.
The S&P 500 added approximately 0.18% and finished the session at 4,515.77.
The Nasdaq Composite inched down by 0.02% and ended the day at 14,031.81.
Earlier in the day, the major indexes had seen significant gains, with the Dow briefly trading more than 250 points higher and both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq climbing by about 0.8% each before seeing some pullback.
Commodity
Oil prices marked a fourth consecutive session of gains on Friday, poised to break a two-week losing streak, primarily due to tightening supplies and expectations that the OPEC+ group of oil producers would extend output cuts through the end of the year.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) rose by 81 cents, equivalent to a 1% increase, reaching $84.45 a barrel.
Brent crude experienced a gain of 82 cents, or 0.9%, and reached $87.65 a barrel.
Throughout the week, WTI had risen by over 5%, while Brent saw an increase of about 3%. Analysts anticipate that Saudi Arabia will extend its voluntary oil production cut of 1 million barrels per day into October, complementing cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, collectively known as OPEC+.
Certainly, here’s the information without bullet points:
Gold initially gained ground on Friday but later retraced some of its gains. Nevertheless, it was still on track for a weekly rise due to increased expectations of a pause in the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes following an uptick in the U.S. unemployment rate. Spot gold experienced a slight loss of 0.05% and was valued at $1,938.79 per ounce. Despite the intraday dip, gold was poised for a 1.2% weekly gain, supported by prices reaching one-month highs earlier in the week. U.S. gold futures for December delivery saw a minor increase of 0.02% and were priced at $1,966.20 per ounce. The shift in market sentiment regarding the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy outlook contributed to gold’s weekly gains.
The above analysis is only for the views of market researchers and is for reference only and is not regarded as a specific investment suggestion.
