DAILY MARKET NEWS

EQUITIES

Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Friday. The South Korea’s KOSPI advanced 0.68%, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.25%, and the Singapore’s Straits Times index gains 0.51%.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index led the losses with -1.09% and the Japan’s Nikkei 225 down -0.54%, and the Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped -0.55%.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.23%, the S&P 500 lost 0.13% and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.54%.

OIL

Oil prices rose on Friday, extending a sharp rally overnight. The Brent crude futures traded to $50.42 a barrel, while U.S. crude at $46.98.

Oil climbed nearly 3% on Thursday, with Brent surging above $50 a barrel for the first time since early March, closed at $50.25 per barrel, while WTI futures ended at $46.78 per barrel.

CURRENCIES

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of its peers, fell 0.18% to 90.66, down from levels above 90.800 in the previous session.

The Australian dollar advanced 0.37% to $0.7561 with iron ore prices to hit a 2-1/2 year high. The New Zealand dollar rose 0.1% to $0.7097.

GOLD

Gold currently trading at $1,835.70 per ounce, while stands around $1,841.80 per ounce for gold futures. Previously closed at $1,836.40 and $1,837.40, respectively.

Silver trading at $23.90, platinum trading at $1,023.00 and palladium trading at $2,226.00.

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

Asian markets traded in mixed session on Friday as investors looked for signs of progress in U.S. stimulus, Brexit negotiations, climbing COVID-19 case, and optimism of vaccines rollout.

In the U.S., few signs of progress towards a coronavirus relief package emerged as lawmakers seek to pass a bill before lifelines expire at the end of 2020. Meanwhile, the number of Americans filing first-time claims for jobless benefits jumped to a near 3-month high.

In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said there was a "strong possibility" the nation could split from the European Union with a trade agreement.

The ECB rolled out stimulus measures to lift the currency bloc out of a double-dip recession and provide support to the economy. The ECB increased the overall size of its Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme by 500 billion euros to 1.85 trillion euros, in line with market expectations. It also extended the scheme by nine months to March 2022, with the aim of keeping government and corporate borrowing costs at record lows.

To date, number of confirmed worldwide cases for COVID-19 pandemic has surpassed 69.524 million affecting 213 countries and territories around the world and 2 international conveyances, recording more than 1.58 million fatality globally.