Market Watch: Nasdaq Surge, Asia-Pacific Markets in Flux

Market Watch: Nasdaq Surge, Asia-Pacific Markets in Flux—Asian markets decline despite Wall Street gains; Japan’s Nikkei rises, and Korea’s Kospi falls on inflation data.

Global Markets Overview:

• Asian Stock Markets: Nikkei up 1.24%, Shanghai Composite up 0.15%, Hang Seng up 0.53%, ASX down 0.35%
• Commodities: Gold at $2340.5 (0.07%), Silver at $29.78 (0.34%), Brent Oil at $86.73 (0.49%), WTI Oil at $83.21 (0.27%)
• Rates: US 10-year yield at 4.450, UK 10-year yield at 4.312, Germany 10-year yield at 2.593

News & Data:

• USD: Final Manufacturing PMI 51.6 vs 51.7 expected
• GBP: Final Manufacturing PMI 50.9 vs 51.4 expected

Market Watch: Nasdaq Surge, Asia-Pacific Markets in Flux

Markets Update:

On Tuesday, Asia-Pacific markets mostly declined, diverging from Wall Street, where the Nasdaq Composite hit a new record driven by tech stocks, with the index rising by 0.83% to close at 17,879.3. Gains led this surge in Microsoft, Apple, and Nvidia. Furthermore, Asian traders assessed South Korea’s inflation rate, which came in at 2.4% for June, below the 2.7% expected by economists polled by Reuters.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 increased by 1.24%, and the broad-based Topix rose by 0.78%. Moreover, the Japanese yen weakened to 161.67 against the dollar, remaining at 38-year lows. A Reuters survey also expects the Bank of Japan to cut bond purchases by about $100 billion in the first year of its forthcoming quantitative tightening plan. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries surged 4.87% to a new all-time high, extending a six-day winning streak.

South Korea’s Kospi dropped by 0.84%, and the small-cap Kosdaq fell by 1.77% following the release of inflation data. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index increased by 0.54%, while Mainland China’s CSI 300 slightly declined. Longfor Group rose 5.41% after repurchasing $219.6 million of notes with a 3.85% interest rate.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 decreased by 0.3% as the Reserve Bank of Australia published minutes from its June monetary policy meeting, where board members considered raising interest rates but ultimately decided to keep them steady at 4.35%. Members noted the possibility of achieving the inflation target within a reasonable timeframe without compromising full employment, though they acknowledged the “narrow path” was becoming narrower. Meanwhile, in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 posted gains, rising by 0.13% and 0.27%, respectively.

Upcoming Events:

• 9:00 AM GMT – EUR Core CPI Flash Estimate y/y
• 9:00 AM GMT – EUR CPI Flash Estimate y/y
• 9:00 AM GMT – EUR Unemployment Rate
• 1:30 PM GMT – USD Fed Chair Powell Speaks

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