Asia-Pacific Markets Tepid As Middle East Conflict Escalates

In a weekend that was rife with airstrikes, the Israeli Air Force launched attacks against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon just before this group launched a missile attack on Israel. After these attacks, both sides reportedly indicated that they did not want a full-blown war.

Following the strikes, Brent crude oil increased by 0.85% and the US West Texas Intermediate went up by 0.87%. The manufacturing yield in Singapore rose by a surprising month-over-month 10.1% in July 2024 after it dropped by 4.3% in June 2024. It also came in ahead of predictions, which pegged August 2024 output at 5.3%. A year-on-year comparison showed a 1.8% increase despite the predicted 1.1% decline.

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On Monday 26 August 2024, the Nikkei slipped by 0.66% and the Topix lost 0.87%. The Japanese yen, however, gained 0.42% to record its best level since the stock sell-off on 5 August 2024. In South Korea, the Kospi slid by 0.14% and the small-cap Kosdaq dropped by 0.84% to record its fourth consecutive day of decreases.

The Australian S&P/ASX 200 increased by 0.76% and, according to CNBC data, is just 30 points away from achieving an all-time high. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed by 1.11%, while the Chinese CSI 300 lost 0.09%. On Friday 23 August 2024, the Dow Jones, Nasdaq and S&P 500 registered gains in the wake of the US Federal Reserve’s comments about imminent rate cuts in September 2024.