BANGKOK — 

Stocks in Asia mostly declined on Thursday following a slight increase on Wall Street, maintaining the market’s momentum for a fourth consecutive week.

The markets in Japan and the United States will be closed on Thursday due to national holidays.

The cost of oil dropped by approximately $1 per barrel following OPEC’s decision to delay a meeting about reducing production. The organization has been limiting the availability of crude oil through production cuts. It is anticipated that these cuts will be extended due to a decrease in oil prices, which had previously risen to nearly $100 per barrel during the summer.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong declined by 0.4% to reach 17,668.99, while the Shanghai Composite index increased by 0.2% to reach 3,048.82. The markets in Greater China have been fluctuating due to actions taken by Chinese regulators to support the struggling real estate market.

Country Garden, a struggling developer, saw a 13% increase in its shares following reports that it has been added to a list of real estate companies qualified for financial assistance. Similarly, Sino-Ocean Group Holding’s shares rose by 18%.

The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia declined by 0.6% to 7,030.70. Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kospi dropped by 2 points to 2,509.73.

The SET in Bangkok experienced a 0.4% decrease, while the Taiex in Taiwan saw a 0.2% decline. The Sensex in Mumbai started off with a 0.1% increase.

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 rose 0.4% to 4,556.62. The Dow rose 0.5% to 35,273.03 and the Nasdaq gained 0.5% to 14,265.86.

Trading was quiet in anticipation of the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday. The U.S. markets will only be open for half a day on Friday.

Technology and communication companies’ stocks contributed significantly to the S&P 500’s increase. Microsoft saw a 1.3% rise, while Google’s parent company, Alphabet, gained 1.1%.

Broadcom’s stock declined by 0.9% following their announcement that they anticipate finalizing their acquisition of VMWare for $69 billion on Wednesday, once all regulatory obstacles have been cleared.

Oil companies were affected by a decrease of 0.9% in oil prices. Exxon Mobil, a major energy corporation, saw a decline of 0.4% while Halliburton, an oilfield services company, dropped 0.8%.

However, it positively impacted airlines and other businesses that will experience advantages from decreased fuel expenses. United Airlines increased by 0.9% and American Airlines saw a 1.5% increase. Carnival, a company that operates cruise lines, also saw a rise of 1.9%.

Despite exceeding analysts’ predictions for profits and revenue, Nvidia’s stock dropped by 2.5%. This may be due to export limitations to China, but the company has still seen a significant increase in stock value this year, as there is high demand for its chips in the field of artificial intelligence.

More earnings reports are being released. Nordstrom, a department store company, saw a 4.6% drop after revising its projected profits for the year. Guess, a clothing retailer, also saw a decline of 12.3% after adjusting its financial forecast.

The company Deere, which is considered a leading indicator for the farming sector, saw a 3.1% decrease in its stock value due to a negative financial forecast and industry outlook for Wall Street.

Treasury yields were relatively steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.41% from 4.40% late Tuesday. The yield on the 2-year Treasury slipped to 4.88% from 4.89% late Tuesday.

The University of Michigan conducted a survey on consumer sentiment, which revealed that confidence remains high. The financial industry has been paying close attention to reports on consumer spending and confidence in order to gain insight into the future of the economy.

Predictions of a possible economic downturn have been delayed until 2024 and have also been reduced. The inflation rate is still decreasing, consumer spending remains strong, and the overall economy is performing well. This has led to optimism and speculation that the Federal Reserve will not raise interest rates any further and may even decrease them in the near future.

The Federal Reserve officials have stated that the future of the economy is still unclear and their decisions on interest rates will be influenced by upcoming reports. The Fed will receive a significant update next week with the release of the government’s October report on a vital inflation measure that is monitored by the central bank.

On Thursday, the United States’ primary type of oil for trading, experienced a loss of 91 cents and was priced at $76.19 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange’s electronic platform. This was a decrease from its price of $77.10 per barrel on Wednesday.

The price of Brent crude, which is used as the global benchmark, decreased by $1.06 to $80.90 per barrel.

The value of the U.S. dollar decreased to 149.12 Japanese yen compared to 149.56 yen. Meanwhile, the euro increased to $1.0905 from $1.0889.

Source: voanews.com