Asian equity markets quiet as Thanksgiving day begins

Asian markets were mainly quiet on Thursday, following a calm session on Wall Street as market participants digested FOMC minutes and looked ahead to the Thanksgiving holiday.

Japanese and American stock markets will remain closed for the day as both nations celebrate Thanksgiving. On Friday, US markets will halt operations earlier than the usual schedule.

For further information concerning trading times changes, visit our website.

<<< Data by 05:20 GMT >>>

Australia ASX S&P -1.30 -0.02% 6,066.30

Shanghai Composite -35.59 -1.04% 3,394.88

Hong KOng Hang Seng -4.09 -0.01% 29,999.40

Japan Nikkei 225 +106.67 +0.48% 22,523.15

Taiwan TSEC 50 Index +40.18 +0.37% 10,862.77

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended in a higher note on Wednesday at 23,526. The S&P 500 notched down by 0.08 percent while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.07 percent to 6867.36.

The data front on Wednesday included non-defense core capital goods orders, which dropped 0.8 percent last month, according to the US Commerce Department.

Attention in the US was directed to the release of Federal Open Market Committee minutes from the November 1 encounter. The document showed policymakers sharing a common view on the future of economic growth, despite disagreeing on inflation and monetary policy changes.

According to Fed funds tracked by CME Group’s FedWatch tool, market participants are currently pricing in nearly a 100% probability of a rate hike by December.

Some policymakers are doubtful about further interest rate adjustments, especially as inflation levels remain far from the annual two percent target.

"In their discussion of the economic situation and the outlook, meeting participants agreed that information received since the FOMC met in September indicated that the labor market had continued to strengthen and that economic activity had been rising at a solid rate despite hurricane-related disruptions," the minutes said.

Ahead in the session, traders will turn to Germany’s gross domestic product revision for the third-quarter, which is seen at an annual growth rate of 2.6 percent.

Markit Economics will present its manufacturing and services activity indexes for November as of 08:30 GMT, with 60.4 and 55.0 readings seen. The same reports will be available for the Eurozone at 09:00 GMT. In the UK Q3 GDP will be available at 09:30 GMT.

The ECB is due to release its account of monetary policy meeting as of 12:30 GMT.

Fort Financial Services