Wednesday 20th November 2024: Asia-Pacific Markets Decline Amid Geopolitical Tensions

Global Markets:

•  Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei down 0.09%, Shanghai Composite up 0.65%, Hang Seng up 0.17% ASX down 0.57%
• Commodities : Gold at $2631.35 (0.04%), Silver at $31.1 (-0.48%), Brent Oil at $73.34 (0.16%), WTI Oil at $69.3 (0.19%)
• Rates : US 10-year yield at 4.414, UK 10-year yield at 4.443, Germany 10-year yield at 2.337

News & Data:

• (USD) Housing Starts  1.31M vs 1.34M expected
• (USD) Building Permits 1.42M vs 1.44M expected
• (CAD) CPI m/m 0.4% vs 0.3% expected
• (CAD) Median CPI y/y 2.5% vs 2.4% expected
• (CAD) Trimmed CPI y/y 2.6% vs 2.4% expected

Markets Update:

Asia-Pacific markets traded mostly lower on Wednesday amid volatility, reflecting mixed signals from Wall Street and escalating geopolitical tensions between Ukraine and Russia.  

Investors evaluated Japan’s October trade data, which showed export growth of 3.1% year-over-year, surpassing expectations and recovering from a 1.7% decline in September. Imports also outperformed estimates, rising 0.4%, though lower than September’s 2.1% increase. Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.16% to close at 38,352.34, while the Topix slipped 0.43% to 2,698.29.  

In other Asian markets, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.24%, and Mainland China’s CSI 300 edged up 0.26%. China’s central bank maintained its benchmark lending rates after a cut in October. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.42% to 2,482.29, though the smaller Kosdaq dropped 0.47% to 682.91. Meanwhile, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.57% to 8,326.3.  

Overnight, U.S. markets offered a mixed performance. The Nasdaq rose 1.04% to 18,987.47, and the S&P 500 climbed 0.4% to 5,916.98. However, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.28%, losing 120.66 points to close at 43,268.94.  

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