Thursday 25th July 2024: Asian Markets Plunge Amid Global Sell-Off, Led by Nikkei’s 3% Drop

Global Markets:

•  Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei down 3.14%, Shanghai Composite down 0.58%, Hang Seng down 1.71% ASX down 1.29%
• Commodities : Gold at $2374.35 (-1.47%), Silver at $28.11 (-3.64%), Brent Oil at $81.13 (-0.73%), WTI Oil at $76.79 (-0.81%)
• Rates : US 10-year yield at 4.257, UK 10-year yield at 4.158, Germany 10-year yield at 2.445

News & Data:

• (CAD) Overnight Rate  4.5% vs 4.5% expected
• (USD) Flash Manufacturing PMI  49.5 vs 51.7 expected
• (USD) Flash Services PMI  56.0 vs 54.7 expected
• (USD) New Home Sales  617K vs 639K expected

Markets Update:

Japan’s Nikkei 225 extended its losing streak to seven days, plunging 3% and leading losses among Asian markets after Wall Street’s tumble. SoftBank Group plummeted 9%, while Renesas Electronics dropped over 14%. The broader Topix fell 2.24%. The yen strengthened for the fourth consecutive day against the U.S. dollar, reaching an 11-week high of 152.28. Reuters reported that the Bank of Japan might discuss a rate hike and a plan to reduce bond-buying at its upcoming meeting.

South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.8% and the Kosdaq dropped 2.32%, dragged down by SK Hynix, which fell 6%. This followed SK Hynix reporting record quarterly revenue of 16.42 trillion won ($11.85 billion), up 125% from a year ago. Operating profit hit 5.47 trillion won, the highest in six years, and net profit stood at 4.12 billion won, reversing losses from last year. Meanwhile, South Korea’s advance second-quarter GDP grew 2.3% year-on-year, slightly below expectations, and contracted 0.2% quarter-on-quarter.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slipped 1.7%, while mainland China’s CSI 300 fell 0.98%. China’s central bank cut the medium-term lending rate to 2.3% from 2.5% to stimulate the economy, following Monday’s loan prime rate reduction. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.94%. Taiwan’s market remained closed for the second day as the island braced for Typhoon Gaemi.

In the U.S., the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite had their worst days since 2022, with the S&P 500 dropping 2.31% to 5,427.13 and the Nasdaq falling 3.64% to 17,342.41. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 504.22 points, or 1.25%, to 39,853.87. Tech stocks, including Nvidia and Meta Platforms, lost 6.8% and 5.6%, respectively. Alphabet shares fell 5%, marking their biggest one-day drop since January, while Tesla shares declined 12.3% on weaker-than-expected results and a 7% year-over-year drop in auto revenue.

Upcoming Events: 

• 12:30 PM GMT – USD Advance GDP q/q
• 12:30 PM GMT – USD Unemployment Claims

The post Thursday 25th July 2024: Asian Markets Plunge Amid Global Sell-Off, Led by Nikkei’s 3% Drop first appeared on IC Markets | Official Blog.