SHANGHAI/HONG KONG (Dow Jones)–At the end of the week there was no clear trend on the stock markets in East Asia. The positive indications from Wall Street, where the indices managed to jump into the black in late trading due to sharply falling market interest rates, are only slightly supportive. The focus is primarily on the reporting season and the impact that rising energy costs and supply chain problems are having on corporate profits. The Russian gas supplies to Europe that have been resumed are acknowledged with relief, but disruptions could occur again at any time, which would cloud the economic prospects.
After the European Central Bank with a larger than expected rate hike in a bid to curb high inflation and the US Federal Reserve is poised to hike another 75 basis points, concerns continued that too aggressive hikes could result in a recession.
The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo is up 0.5 percent. The Bank of Japan (BoJ) had its ultra-loose one the day before monetary policy retained, but the inflation forecast for the current fiscal year has been raised. This is confirmed by the consumer price index for June, which increased by 2.4 percent compared to the previous month. This means that inflationary pressure in Japan is increasing. Inflation is now above the Bank of Japan’s target of 2 percent for the third straight month. However, this no longer supports the yen, which is bouncing back a little after its recovery from the previous day.
The indices in Shanghai (-0.3%) and Hong Kong (+0.1%) showed little movement. Market sentiment may be supported in the near term by government officials making “reassuring” comments on Thursday, it said. Accordingly, they are ready to support the real estate market more, notes Commerzbank. China’s banking and insurance regulator said it would strengthen coordination with relevant departments to ensure the completion of housing.
The Kospi is reduced by 0.3 percent. The measures taken by the government have had no positive effect here. South Korea’s Treasury Ministry announced cuts in corporate and personal income taxes next year to boost business investment and ease the tax burden on inflation-plagued citizens. Market participants point out that the measure still has to be approved by the opposition-controlled parliament.
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Index (stock market) last +/- % % YTD end
S&P/ASX 200 (Sydney) 6,807.00 +0.2% -8.6% 08:00
Nikkei-225 (Tokyo) 27,929.86 +0.5% -7.0% 08:00
Kospi (Seoul) 2,402.52 -0.3% -19.3% 08:00
Shanghai Comp. 3,261.12 -0.3% -10.4% 09:00
Hang Seng (Hongk.) 20,598.98 +0.1% -11.0% 10:00
Straits-Times (Sing.) 3,177.69 +0.8% -0.2% 11:00
KLCI (Malaysia) 1,457.40 +0.5% -8.8% 11:00
FOREX last +/- % 00:00 Thu, 9:33 % YTD
EUR/USD 1.0192 -0.4% 1.0228 1.0210 -10.4%
EUR/JPY 140.29 -0.2% 140.51 141.50 +7.2%
EUR/GBP 0.8516 -0.1% 0.8526 0.8538 +1.3%
GBP/USD 1.1969 -0.2% 1.1997 1.1957 -11.6%
USD/JPY 137.65 +0.2% 137.39 138.62 +19.6%
USD/KRW 1,311.15 +0.3% 1,306.66 1,307.29 +10.3%
USD/CNY 6.7665 -0.0% 6.7668 6.7624 +6.5%
USD/CNH 6.7736 +0.1% 6.7688 6.7716 +6.6%
USD/HKD 7.8494 +0.0% 7.8490 7.8491 +0.7%
AUD/USD 0.6909 -0.4% 0.6934 0.6882 -4.9%
NZD/USD 0.6224 -0.5% 0.6252 0.6208 -8.8%
Bitcoin
BTC/USD 22,934.27 -1.2% 23,223.73 22,972.63 -50.4%
ROHL last VT-Settl. +/- % +/- USD % YTD
WTI/Nymex 97.19 96.35 +0.9% 0.84 +35.8%
Brent/ICE 104.83 103.86 +0.9% 0.97 +39.9%
METALS last day before +/- % +/- USD % YTD
Gold (Spot) 1,713.61 1,718.53 -0.3% -4.92 -6.3%
Silver (Spot) 18.77 18.86 -0.5% -0.09 -19.5%
Platinum (Spot) 877.87 876.22 +0.2% +1.65 -9.5%
Copper Future 3.34 3.30 +1.1% +0.04 -24.7%
YTD at the close of the day
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 22, 2022 00:37 ET (04:37 GMT)