Global Markets:
- Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei up 0.28%, Shanghai Composite down 0.30%, Hang Seng down 0.5% ASX down 0.00%
- Commodities : Gold at $2357.5 (0.67%), Silver at $30.48 (1.34%), Brent Oil at $85.13 (-0.19%), WTI Oil at $80.61 (-0.19%)
- Rates : US 10-year yield at 4.24, UK 10-year yield at 4.102, Germany 10-year yield at 2.408
News & Data:
- (USD) NAHB Housing Market Index 43 vs 45 expected
Markets Update:
Asia-Pacific markets mostly declined on Thursday as China kept its one- and five-year loan prime rates unchanged at 3.45% and 3.95% respectively. Earlier this week, the People’s Bank of China also maintained the 1-year medium-term lending facility rate at 2.5%. Following the announcement, Mainland China’s CSI 300 fell 0.49%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 0.48%. Major decliners in Hong Kong included Haidilao, which plunged 6.13%, Shenzhou International Group, down 4.31%, and Budweiser Brewing Company APAC, down 3.73%.
South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.42%, though the small-cap Kosdaq slipped 0.41%. Shares of HMM, the country’s largest container ship company, increased by over 3%. Taiwan’s Weighted Index reached new highs for the third consecutive day, gaining 0.43%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.15%, while shares of Mexican-themed fast food chain Guzman y Gomez surged up to 3.91% following its market debut on the Australian Stock Exchange on Thursday. Data from New Zealand showed the economy exited a technical recession, growing 0.2% quarter-on-quarter in the first three months of the year, surpassing Reuters poll expectations of a 0.1% expansion. Year-on-year, the economy grew 0.2%.
In the U.S., futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.29%, Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 0.64%, and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pulled back by 17 points, or 0.04%.
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