EQUITIES

Shares in Asia-Pacific were lower in Thursday trade. The broader Hang Seng index in Hong Kong slipped 0.15%, the Nikkei 225 shed 0.32%, and the South Korea’s KOSPI was down 0.13%. The S&P BSE Sensex in India declined 0.29%, and the Straits Times index in Singapore was marginally changed from opening.

Elsewhere, the mainland Shanghai composite up 0.46%, the Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.04%,

Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 152.03 points overnight to 35,609.34 after touching an all-time high earlier in the session. The S&P 500 advanced 0.37% to 4,536.19 while the Nasdaq Composite lagged, slipping fractionally to 15,121.68, as technology stocks took a breather.

OIL

Oil prices held overnight gains, as U.S. crude and fuel inventories data showing stockpiles tightened further, with supplies of gasoline hitting a two-year low, pointing to strong demand.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said U.S. crude stocks fell by 431,000 barrels in the week to Oct. 15 to 426.5 million barrels, against expectations for an increase. Gasoline stocks fell by 5.4 million barrels in the week to 217.7 million barrels, the lowest since November 2019, while distillate stocks fell to levels not seen since April 2020.

The Brent now traded at $85.73 per barrel, and U.S. crude futures traded at $83.44 per barrel.

Overnight, the Brent ends at $85.82 a barrel, and the WTI settled at $83.87 per barrel.

CURRENCIES

Longer-dated Treasury yields rose on expectations of growth and inflation. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield made a five-month high of 1.673% on Wednesday, and last sat just below that level at 1.659% on Thursday. Investors put bets of Fed to raise interest rates before long, as surging energy prices and tightening job markets pressured.

The dollar dipped on the improved risk sentiment. The dollar’s index stood at 93.511, near its lowest level since late September.

Commodity currencies, such as Australian and New Zealand dollars stood near multi-month highs on Thursday on strong raw material prices.

In cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin climbed to a record high on Wednesday, a day after the first U.S. bitcoin futures-based ETF began trading. It later pared some of those gains and was last trading at $64,808 on Thursday.

Ether, the world's No 2 cryptocurrency, was also climbing, now at $4,159, and heading towards its all-time high of $4,380, hit on May 12.

GOLD

Gold prices inched up on Thursday, extending gains into a third session. Spot gold rose 0.2% to $1,786.20 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures also added 0.2% to trade at $1,788.50.

Spot silver rose 0.18% to $24.49 an ounce, platinum gained 1.24% to $1,065.40 and palladium added 0.17% to $2,086.00.

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

Asian stocks eked small gains earlier on Thursday on the upbeat mood from bitcoin, oil, and overnight Wall Street performance, but the optimism was ebbed on fresh worries about China’s property sector after an asset sale at embattled developer Evergrande collapsed.

Development of China Evergrande Group shares in Hong Kong are monitored, as it returns to trade after a halt that lasted more than two weeks. Late on Wednesday China Evergrande, the heavily indebted developer at the centre of a credit crunch in China’s real estate sector, said it had scrapped a $2.6 billion sale of a stake in Evergrande Property Services Group Ltd to Hopson Development Holdings Ltd as the smaller rival had not met the "prerequisite to make a general offer".

The shares dropped as much as 14% on Thursday and the company will be in default if a 30-day grace period due to expire over the weekend passes without the payment of a dollar bond coupon.

Shares in rival developers drew support thanks to reassurance from several top Chinese officials that the trouble in the sector would not be allowed to escalate into a full-blown crisis. Hopson shares jumped more than 5%.

Investors also are still on high alert for corporate comments on the impact of supply constraints, higher costs and labour shortages. Due for earnings releases today include the Philip Morris, AT&T, Dow, American Airlines, Intel, IBM, and Snap.

Among economic events today include the U.S. initial jobless claims, Philadelphia Fed business index, existing home sales, and EU’s consumer confidence.