Global Markets:
- Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei up 2.51%, Shanghai Composite up 0.27%, Hang Seng up 1.21% ASX up 0.25%
- Commodities : Gold at $2435.35 (0.17%), Silver at $27.28 (-0.04%), Brent Oil at $76.53 (0.07%), WTI Oil at $73.39 (0.15%)
- Rates : US 10-year yield at 3.903, UK 10-year yield at 3.922, Germany 10-year yield at 2.219
News & Data:
- (USD) Trade Balance -73.1B vs -72.5B expected
- (CAD) Trade Balance 0.6B vs -2.0B expected
Markets Update:
Asia-Pacific markets saw gains on Wednesday, following Wall Street’s recovery from a three-day losing streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 0.76%, the S&P 500 by 1.04%, and the Nasdaq Composite by 1.03%, closing at 16,366.85. Investor sentiment improved significantly after Japanese stocks rebounded. The Nikkei 225 had its best day since October 2008 on Tuesday, surging 10.2%, after experiencing its worst session since 1987 on Monday, where it fell 12.4%.
On Wednesday, the Nikkei rose over 2.8%, and the Topix increased by more than 4%. Major Japanese trading houses continued to climb, with Marubeni up 11% and Softbank Group Corp rising 8%. Canon Inc led Japanese tech stocks, gaining over 12%. In his speech, Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Uchida Shinichi emphasized the need for ongoing monetary easing, citing volatile financial and capital markets. Additionally, Japan’s Ministry of Finance reported a record single-day yen-buying intervention on April 29, selling $40.32 billion worth of dollars to support the yen, and a subsequent sale of $26.35 billion worth of dollars on May 1.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose by more than 1%, while mainland China’s CSI 300 edged up 0.2%. Chinese customs data revealed that July imports grew faster than expected, while export growth fell short of forecasts. Exports in dollar terms rose 7% year-on-year, below the expected 9.7%, and slower than June’s 8.6% increase. Imports, however, rose by 7.2%, surpassing the forecast of 3.5%.
South Korea’s Kospi increased by over 2.5%, with the Kosdaq up more than 2.6%. Samsung Electronics surged about 4.5% after its HBM3E chips were reported to have passed tests by Nvidia for use in AI processors. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed by 0.6% during trading.
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