KURE - Asia-Pacific markets higher echoing Wall Street gains as soft US data bolster pause in interest-rate hikes

2023-08-30 03:07:49 ET

Japan +0.33% . Japan August consumer confidence index 36.2 vs 37.1 prior.

China +0.10%.

Hong Kong +0.38% .

India +0.53% .

Australia +1.21% .Australian July inflation data 4.9% y/y (vs. 5.2% expected).

Australian data - Q2 Construction work done +0.4 q/q% (expected +1.0%).

Australian data - July building permits -8.1% m/m (vs. -0.8% expected).

New Zealand July building permits -5.2% m/m (vs. +0.2% expected).

Producer prices in the Philippines rose by 0.1% y/y in July 2023, the least since September 2021, after an upwardly revised 0.8% growth in the prior month.

In the U.S. on Tuesday, all three major indexes ended higher , fueled by the optimism that the Federal Reserve will likely pause interest-rate hikes in September following latest job data.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 1.74% to close at 13,943.76 points. The benchmark S&P 500 gained 1.45% to settle at 4,497.77 points, while the blue-chip Dow climbed 0.85% to finish at 34,852.87 points.

Data released on Tuesday showed that US JOLTS job openings declined to a 2-1/2 -year low in July, while consumer sentiment in the country fell by the most in two years in August amid souring views on the labor market, higher borrowing costs and persistent inflation.

Markets now await the monthly jobs report, the PCE price index, the ISM Manufacturing PMI and Q2 GDP figures for further insight into interest rate trends.

Meantime, caution built ahead of Chinese PMIs data for August later this week, alongside domestic business and consumer confidence.

Oil prices extended gains on Wednesday on large U.S. stockpile draw, hurricane jitters.

Brent crude futures for October rose 17 cents, or 0.2%, to $85.66 a barrel by 0133 GMT.  U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 24 cents, or 0.3%, to $81.40, logging its fifth session of gains.

Gold prices hovered near three-week highs on Wednesday, as markets cut back U.S. rate hike bets.

Spot gold was flat at $1,936.17 per ounce by 0328 GMT, about $2 below its highest levels since Aug. 7 hit on Tuesday. U.S. gold futures steadied at $1,964.30.

Elsewhere, spot silver fell 0.4% to $24.63 per ounce, but was hovering close to a one-month high.

Platinum eased 0.1% to $975.07, having climbed to its highest level since July 19 in the previous session. Palladium shed 0.8% to $1,239.38.

Currencies: ( Japanese Yen / US Dollar ( JPY:USD )), ( Chinese Yuan / US Dollar ( CNY:USD )), ( Australian Dollar / US Dollar ( AUD:USD )), ( Indian Rupee / US Dollar ( INR:USD )), ( Hong Kong Dollar / US Dollar ( HKD:USD )), ( New Zealand Dollar / US Dollar ( NZD:USD )).

U.S. stock futures edged higher on Wednesday after the major averages extended their winning streak to a third consecutive day during Tuesday’s regular session: Dow -0.07% ; S&P 500 +0.02% ; Nasdaq +0.02% .

ETFs: ( JEQ ), ( EWJ ), ( DXJ ), ( FXY ), ( FXI ), ( KWEB ), ( CQQQ ), ( MCHI ), ( ASHR ), ( YINN ), ( TDF ), ( CHIQ ), ( GXC ), ( EWH ), ( KBA ), ( YANG ), ( CXSE ), ( CAF ), ( CWEB ), ( PGJ ), ( KURE ), ( CHIX ), ( CYB ).

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