05/10/2023
Today’s Announcements & News
Asia
Hong Kong stocks led a decline in Asia-Pacific markets on Tuesday as they returned from a National Day holiday, with the Hang Seng index closing 2.69% lower at 17,331.22. It had been down over 3% earlier in the session.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.28% to close at 6,943.4 after the central bank held interest rates steady at 4.10%, as expected according to a Reuters poll.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 also experienced a drop of 1.64%, closing at 31,237.94.
However, South Korean and Chinese markets were closed for holidays.
In the U.S. overnight, the three major indexes traded mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.22% to 33,433.35, the S&P 500 inched up 0.01% to close at 4,288.39, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.67% to close at 13,307.77.
US
On Wednesday, the S&P 500 edged higher as Treasury yields retreated from multiyear highs following the release of much weaker-than-expected jobs data.
The broad market index gained 0.8%, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up by 122 points or 0.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite advancing by 1.4%.
The consumer discretionary sector was the day’s best-performing, rising more than 1%. Companies like Tesla and Norwegian Cruise Lines led the sector gains.
Conversely, energy was the worst-performing sector in the S&P 500 as crude oil prices fell. Devon Energy and Marathon Oil were among the companies in this sector that declined.
These moves came after the release of new jobs data, with ADP reporting that only 89,000 private payrolls were added last month, falling significantly below expectations.
Commodity
On Wednesday, oil prices experienced a significant drop of more than $5, with Brent crude oil futures settling down 5.6% at $85.81 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude falling by the same percentage to $84.22 per barrel. The decline was attributed to concerns about reduced fuel demand and a less favorable economic outlook.
Gold prices also declined for the eighth consecutive session on Wednesday, as elevated U.S. Treasury yields and expectations of the Federal Reserve maintaining higher interest rates weighed on investor sentiment. Spot gold was down 0.2% at $1,818.59 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures settled 0.4% lower at $1,834.80 per ounce.
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.
