Asian share markets experienced a significant slide on Monday, September 9, 2024, amid concerns about a potential U.S. economic downturn, which had already impacted Wall Street. Japan’s Nikkei index felt the effects the most, falling 2.4% more on top of a nearly 6% decline the previous week, driven primarily by losses in tech stocks. Broader Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan also dropped 1.2%, while South Korea’s market slipped 1.3%.
Moreover, this market slip did not affect only Japan. China’s economic data reflected weakening demand, with the country’s CPI(Consumer Price Index) rising only 0.6% annually in August, missing forecasts. Food prices mostly drove this slow rise, while goods prices increased just 0.2%, indicating soft domestic demand. Additionally, producer prices fell 1.8% year-on-year, underlining China’s ongoing role as a driver of global disinflation.
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In contrast, U.S. stock futures managed a slight recovery after Friday’s selloff. S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures rose 0.2%, while European markets showed cautious optimism, with EURO STOXX 50 futures and FTSE futures increasing by 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively.
It is expected that the U.S. consumer price data will play a critical role in influencing the Fed’s decision-making. The market expects a slowdown in headline inflation, forecasted to decrease from 2.9% to 2.6%.
In commodity markets, gold prices remained stable, trading below their recent all-time high, while oil prices showed some recovery after suffering their largest weekly fall in 11 months. Brent crude rose to $72.07 per barrel, and U.S. crude climbed to $68.69 per barrel, reflecting persistent concerns about global demand.
