EQUITIES
Most Asia-Pacific indexes fell on Thursday, except in China. Chinese markets rose as government data showed factory activity grew in June. Mainland Shanghai Composite advanced 1.31%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was flat.
China's factory and service sectors snapped three months of activity decline in June, as authorities lifted a strict COVID lockdown in Shanghai, reviving output, and consumer spending. The official manufacturing PMI for June was at 50.2 compared from 49.6 in May, the National Bureau of Statistics showed earlier today.
Elsewhere, the Nikkei 225 in Japan dropped 1.37%, the South Korea’s KOSPI declined 1.18%, and in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.02%.
Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the session up 0.27%, to 31,029.31, while the other benchmarks closed slightly lower. The S&P 500 dipped 0.07% to 3,818.83, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite edged down by 0.03% to 11,177.89.
OIL
Oil prices were little changed on Thursday as markets weighed a rise in U.S. gasoline and distillate inventories and worries about slower economic growth amid supply tightness concerns.
The Energy Information Administration reported that U.S. crude inventories fell last week even as production hit its highest level since April 2020. Crude inventories fell by 2.8 million barrels in the week to June 24, far exceeding analysts' expectation for a 569,000-barrel drop. The gasoline and distillate stockpiles meanwhile climbed.
The OPEC and OPEC+, which includes allies such as Russia, will ends two days of meetings later today with sources saying there was little prospect of pumping more oil despite U.S. pressure to expand quotas.
Brent crude futures for September were little changed at $115.89 per barrel. The U.S. WTI crude futures climbed 12 cents to $109.80. Both contracts slid about 2% on Wednesday.
CURRENCIES
The dollar index was trading up at 105.032, at a two-week high. It is just a whisker from its recent two-decade peak of 105.79 and could record its best quarter in over five years.
The U.S. Treasury 10-year yield edged up to 3.102%.
Bitcoin dipped back below $20,000 level on persistent market ructions and was also hurt by the U.S. Securities and Exchange rejecting a proposal to list a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund by Grayscale, one of the world's biggest digital asset managers.
GOLD
Oil prices were flat on Thursday but faced its worst quarter since early 2021 as a remarkable showing from the dollar kept investors away, while also pressured by top central banks adopting aggressive tactics against stubborn inflation.
Spot gold edged down 0.15% to $1,814.60 per ounce, and U.S gold futures was flat at $1,816.70.
Gold prices, set to drop for a third straight month, have fallen about 6.2% this quarter. Bullion's performance in the second quarter erases gains made earlier in the year as a spiralling Ukraine-Russia conflict lifted demand for the safe haven, with prices back around levels they started 2022 at — just above the $1,800 mark.
Spot silver was up 0.1% at $20.72 per ounce, platinum was flat at $916.66, and palladium gained 1.2% to $1,986.21. These metals also headed for monthly and quarterly losses.
ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
Asian shares were ending the first half of the year in a sombre mood on Thursday, as investors were wary of more pain ahead from a central bank counterattack to tame surging inflation and fears of a slowdown in major global economies, though it is proving to be a booster for the safe-haven dollar and government bonds.
Rate hikes, policy tightening, recession fears, inflation concerns and the Russia-Ukraine war, have weighed and plagued the market.
Investors meanwhile cheered the signs of economic recovery after China's factory and service sectors snapped three months of activity decline in June, business surveys showed on Thursday, as authorities lifted a strict COVID lockdown in Shanghai, reviving output and consumer spending. The official manufacturing PMI rose to 50.2 in June from 49.6 in May, the official non-manufacturing PMI in June improved to 54.7 from 47.8 in May, and the composite PMI, which includes both manufacturing and services activity, stood at 54.1, compared with 48.4 in May. China's major stock indices rallying more than 1% and set for their biggest monthly rise in nearly two years.
