Asian markets rebound, mirroring moves on Wall Street; Japan data in focus

With interest rates peaking, investment advisors are now seeing opportunities to make huge gains through some government bonds.

A combination of macroeconomic factors coupled with tax-free benefits is expected to enhance investor returns.

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-Ganesh Rao

The US dollar has been on a tear following the Fed’s apparent commitment to higher interest rates for a longer period.

While economies and stock markets around the world would likely come under pressure in such a scenario, a wide range of European stocks could actually benefit from a stronger US dollar, according to Bank of America.

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– Amala Balakrishner

Factory output in Japan stabilized in August compared to July, defying expectations of economists polled by Reuters for a 0.8% decline.

On an annual basis, industrial production fell for the third month in a row, falling by 3.7%.

Separately, retail sales rose 7% year over year, above expectations of 6.6% and at the same rate compared to July’s revised figure of 7%.

Japan’s unemployment rate also remained unchanged at 2.7% in August.

– Lim Hui Ji

Oil prices rose to their highest level in more than a year during Asian trading hours, after crude inventories at a major storage hub fell to their lowest levels since July last year.

Crude oil inventories in Cushing, Oklahoma, fell to 22 million barrels in the fourth week of September – hovering near the operating minimum, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). This represents a decrease of 943,000 barrels compared to the previous week.

US West Texas Intermediate crude futures touched $95.03 per barrel during Asian trading hours, hitting the highest level since August 2022. They were last at $93.16 per barrel.

The price of Brent crude, the global benchmark, reached $97.56 per barrel earlier in the session. They last traded at $96.03 per barrel.

– Li Ying Shan, Sarah Min

Real gross domestic product rose 2.1% at an annual pace in the second quarter, according to a third and final estimate released by the Commerce Department on Thursday. This did not change from the previous reading, but it was lower than the Dow Jones estimate of 2.2%.

However, the government revised its previous readings of GDP, and reduced first-quarter growth for each year from 2020 to 2022.

The new readings, respectively, are -5.3%, 5.2% and -2%, compared to the previous readings -4.6%, 6.3% and -1.6%.

In other economic news Thursday, initial unemployment claims totaled 204,000 for the week ending Sept. 23, according to the Labor Department. This was below the estimate of 214,000. Continuing claims rose to 1.67 million, up 12,000 and slightly below the FactSet estimate of 1.675 million.

—Jeff Cox

New York Stock Exchange stocks rose more than two for every one that declined on Thursday, as Wall Street tried to recoup some of the sharp losses it suffered in September. Overall, 1,976 stocks listed on the NYSE rose, while 719 fell.

-Fred Imbert

The percentage of pessimism among individual investors rose to 40.9%, the highest percentage since mid-May, from 34.6% last week, in the latest weekly poll conducted by the American Association of Individual Investors. The survey asks investors about their expectations for stocks during the next six months.

Conversely, optimism fell to 27.8%, its lowest level in four months, from 31.3% last week.

The historical average for the decline is 31.0% and for the rise is 37.5%.

Bullish sentiment is below its historical average for the sixth week in seven weeks, and has declined by 14.4 percentage points in just the past three weeks.

-Scott Schnepper