Asian equity indexes green despite Wall Street weak lead

Asian stocks were able to move higher on Thursday despite a weak close in Wall Street, shrugging off pessimist sentiment and looking ahead to more economic data later in the day.

Australia ASX +11.20 +0.19% 6,023.50 CLOSED

Shanghai Comp -3.27 -0.10% 3,399.25 CLOSED

Hang Seng Index +221.94 +0.77% 29,073.63 OPEN

Nikkei 225 +322.80 +1.47% 22,351.12 CLOSED

TSEC 50 Index -5.61 -0.05% 10,625.04 CLOSED

No relevant economic reports were released in Asia. Today, investors will keep an eye on various fronts, including UK retail sales for October at 09:30 GMT and EU’s CPI at 10:00 GMT.

In the United States, focus will be at export/import price indexes, initial jobless claims and the Philly Fed manufacturing index. All scheduled at 13:30 GMT. Later on, industrial production for October is due at 14:15 with a 0.5 percent gain eyed.

Wall Street top three indexes closed in red territory on Wednesday, making evident the bullish movements is slowing down on the back Trump’s tax bill.

Dow Jones IA -138.19 -0.59% 23,271.28 CLOSED

S&P 500 -14.25 -0.55% 2,564.62 CLOSED

Nasdaq Composite -31.66 -0.47% 6,706.21 CLOSED

The Dow Jones industrial average touched its lowest level in nearly three weeks, with heavy machinery manufacturer Caterpillar pushing the index down.

The S&P 500 dropped in the light of lower energy prices. Energy stocks plunged 1.2 percent in average during the session after the International Energy Agency revised downwards its crude oil demand for this and next year by 100,000 barrels per day.

The Nasdaq composite came under pressure as major tech companies Apple, Netflix and Alphabet traded lower. The technology sector, however, continues to be one of the best performers of 2017. The Nasdaq has amassed a 24 percent gain since January.

On the politics front, House Speaker Paul Ryan confirmed the House of Representatives is not going to repeal Obamacare’s individual mandate before the Senate does. The House will vote on its own tax reform bill on Thursday.

On the data front, the US consumer price index rose by 0.1 percent in October, against a 0.5 percent rise seen in the previous month. Growth level was in line with analysts’ expectations.

In other news, retail sales for October went up 0.2 percent, while economists had forecasted no changes. Sales had increased 1.9 percent in September.

Fort Financial Services