Asian stock markets presented varied results on Monday. U.S. futures showed growth after a long weekend due to the Wall Street holiday. In contrast, technology stock declines in Tokyo and Seoul impacted their market benchmarks negatively.
Oil prices decreased after OPEC+ announced an oil production increase. Seven member countries plan a combined rise of 188,000 barrels per day in August. This marks the fifth straight month of agreed output hikes. Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman are set to raise production. Despite this, supply uncertainties remain. Discussions with Iran on reopening the Strait of Hormuz are on hold during Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s funeral ceremonies.
In energy trading on Monday, Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell by 2 cents to $72.10 a barrel. Meanwhile, U.S. benchmark crude rose 20 cents to $68.89 a barrel.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 decreased by 0.3% to 69,568.27. Among the decliners were SoftBank Group Corp., which fell 3.3%, and chipmaker Tokyo Electron, which dropped 1.0%. South Korea’s Kospi also dipped, decreasing by 0.7% to 8,033.16.
Conversely, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index advanced by 0.8% to 23,540.58. The Shanghai Composite index saw a slight decline of less than 0.1% to 4,042.08. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 also fell, losing 0.2% to 8,831.00.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar increased to 162.08 Japanese yen from the previous 161.34 yen. Compared to a year earlier, the dollar was trading around 140 yen levels. The euro cost $1.1425, down from $1.1440.
The U.S. markets were closed on Friday, July 3, in observance of the Independence Day holiday. This year, July 4th occurred on a Saturday.
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