- Thursday saw a majority decline in shares in Asia following a slight uptick on Wall Street.
- Thursday is a holiday in both Japan and the US, with closed markets.
- Oil prices dropped by roughly $1 per barrel after OPEC decision.
Thursday saw a majority decline in shares in Asia following a slight uptick on Wall Street that maintained the market’s trajectory toward a fourth consecutive weekly gain.
Thursday is a holiday in both Japan and the US, with closed markets. Oil prices dropped by roughly $1 per barrel after OPEC decided to postpone its production-cutting meeting until next week.
Asian stocks
The oil cartel has been implementing production cuts to maintain a tight market for crude oil, and it is anticipated that these measures will be extended as oil prices have declined following a summer spike to nearly $100 per barrel.
The Shanghai Composite Index increased by 0.2%, but the Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell by 0.4% to 17,668.99. Greater China markets have been trembling in response to actions taken by Chinese regulators to support the collapsing real estate sector.
A significant portion of the S&P 500’s gains came from stocks in the technology and communications services sector, with Microsoft up 1.3% and Google parent Alphabet adding 1.1%.
Following the announcement on Wednesday of its $69 billion acquisition of VMware, which cleared all regulatory requirements, Broadcom saw a 0.9% decline. Airlines and other businesses that stand to gain from lower fuel costs were helped by a 0.9% decline in oil prices, but energy companies were still negatively impacted.
The trend of positive earnings reports has continued. Department store operator Nordstrom fell 4.6% after lowering its full-year profit forecast, apparel retailer Guess fell 12.3%, and tractor maker Deere fell 3.1% after providing Wall Street with a dismal financial forecast and industry outlook.
A survey of consumer sentiment indicated that confidence is still high, and Treasury yields were comparatively stable.
