EQUITIES

Asian share markets slipped in early trading, as Japan's Nikkei 225 falling -1.33% and Singapore’s shedding -1.36%. Shares in Australia also traded lower, as the S&P/ASX 200 slipped -1.87%, and South Korea’s KOSPI declined -1.76%.

Markets in Hong Kong and mainland China are closed for public holidays on Thursday.

 It was the worst daily percentage drop for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq since June 11. The Dow fell 710.16 points, or 2.7%, to close at 25,445.94. The S&P 500 finished its trading day 2.6% lower at 3,050.33 while the Nasdaq slid 2.2% to close at 9,909.17.

OIL

Oil price retreated in the morning of Asian trading hours, as Brent is trading at $40.05 while WTI is trading at $37.74 as of writing time.

Brent crude futures closed on Wednesday at $40.31 per barrel, while WTI futures ended at $38.01 per barrel.

CURRENCIES

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, strengthened to 97.21 after rising from levels below 97 seen earlier.

The Japanese yen traded at 107.18 per dollar in a volatile trading week that has seen it at levels below 106.4. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.6859 after slipping from levels above $0.69 yesterday.

The euro retreated to $1.1245 while the British pound also stepped back to $1.2409.

GOLD

Gold currently trading at $1,762.70 per ounce, while stands around $1,772.40 per ounce for gold futures as of writing time. Previously closed at $1,761.30 and $1,775.10, respectively.

Silver trading at $17.54, platinum trading at $791.00 and palladium trading at $1,795.00.

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

Asian markets were set to follow a tumble in Wall Street stocks and oil prices on Thursday after surging U.S. coronavirus cases and the IMF’s downgrade to global economic projections shook confidence.

The IMF now estimates a contraction of 4.9% in global GDP in 2020, lower than the 3% fall it predicted in April.

U.S. output now expected to shrink 8.0%, more than two percentage points worse than the April forecast.

Oil prices tumbled over 5%, or more than $2 a barrel on Wednesday, after U.S. crude storage hit capacity and coronavirus cases rebounded in countries like Germany and in heavily populated areas of the U.S.

To date, number of confirmed worldwide cases for COVID-19 pandemic has passed reached more than 9.526 million today affecting 213 countries and territories around the world and 2 international conveyances, recording more than 485 thousand fatality globally.

TECHNICAL OUTLOOK

[USDJPY]

Important Levels to Watch for Today:

- Resistance line of 107.431 and 107.982.

- Support line of 106.995 and 105.104.

Commentary/ Reason:

- Price broke the early May lowest support level, as dollar were put under pressure over positive data of Euro currencies.

-  RSI oscillator is in overbought range.

-  Stochastic oscillator recovering from undervalued range, though still lingers around the range.

-  MACD is trading above its signal line and negative.