Asian Stock Market: Recovers firmly as US Manufacturing PMI drops, oil witnesses carnage

Asian stocks have rebounded as shrinkage in US manufacturing activities trims further policy tightening by the Fed.
Chinese equities have soared after the release of an upbeat Caixin Services PMI.
Oil prices witnessed a massive sell-off amid escalating demand worries.

Sagar Dua FXStreet

Markets in the Asian domain have witnessed decent demand tracing the recovery in S&P500, recorded on Wednesday. The United States equity domain witnessed strength after a consecutive drop in the US Manufacturing PMI. The economic data dropped to 48.4 vs. the consensus of 48.5 and the former release of 49.0. The Institute of Supply Management (ISM) cited this as the lowest reading since May 2000.

At the press time, Japan’s Nikkei225 added 0.26%, ChinaA50 soared 2.07%, Hang Seng jumped 1.18%, and Nifty50 remained flat.

The volume of manufacturing activities in the United States has dropped consecutively for the second month, led by aggressive interest rate policy by the Federal Reserve (Fed) for the entire CY2022. A spree of shrinkage in manufacturing activities has bolstered expectations of a further decline in inflation expectations. This might force Fed chair Jerome Powell to wrap up tight monetary policy quickly and resume providing monetary support to firms for addressing their investment and expansion plans.

Meanwhile, Chinese stocks have witnessed a sheer buying interest despite the Covid situation getting vulnerable each day. The release of upbeat Caixin Service PMI data has brought strength to equities. China's Caixin Services PMI for December has arrived at 48.0 vs. 47.5 expected and 46.7 prior, showing that the country’s services activity slowed its pace of contraction in the reported month.

Nikkei225 remained marginally positive as the Bank of Japan (BoJ) aims to revise its inflation targets in its new quarterly projections for CY2023 and 2024, as reported by Reuters.

On the oil front, oil prices witnessed a bloodbath on Wednesday as a decline in US manufacturing activities has bolstered the risk of recession. West Texas futures dropped below $73.00 as rising Covid infections in China are signaling a delayed recovery.

Nikkei 225

Overview
Today last price	25877.95
Today Daily Change	0.00
Today Daily Change %	0.00
Today daily open	25877.95

Trends
Daily SMA20	26787.46
Daily SMA50	27427.16
Daily SMA100	27447.3
Daily SMA200	27272.79

Levels
Previous Daily High	25957.8
Previous Daily Low	25638.72
Previous Weekly High	26479.57
Previous Weekly Low	25793.22
Previous Monthly High	28325.89
Previous Monthly Low	25793.22
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%	25835.91
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%	25760.61
Daily Pivot Point S1	25691.85
Daily Pivot Point S2	25505.74
Daily Pivot Point S3	25372.77
Daily Pivot Point R1	26010.93
Daily Pivot Point R2	26143.9
Daily Pivot Point R3	26330.01

Author

Sagar Dua

FXStreet

Sagar Dua is associated with the financial markets from his college days. Along with pursuing post-graduation in Commerce in 2014, he started his markets training with chart analysis.

AUD/USD keeps the red near 0.6950 after weak Aussie jobs data

AUD/USD holds losses near 0.6950 on disappointing Australian jobs data, extending the previous day's retracement slide from the monthly high and hitting a fresh weekly low during Thursday’s Asian session. Meanwhile, declining US bond yields drag the US Dollar away from the April 2025 high, touched after Wednesday's hot US CPI, helping limit losses for the currency pair.

USD/JPY slides back below 158.00 as USD reverses post-CPI gains

USD/JPY extends the previous day's pullback from a three-week high, attracting follow-through selling and sliding below 158.00 during Thursday's Asian session. Traders remain on high alert amid speculation that authorities will step in to prop up the Japanese Yen. The US Dollar, meanwhile, reverses Wednesday's hot CPI-led gains to April 2025 highs as US bond yields retreat on China bond-buying talk, further pressuring the pair.

Gold shrugs off hot US PPI as risk aversion drives bond yields lower

Gold attracts fresh buying on Thursday as weakness across global equities, driven by mounting concerns over AI-related investments, triggers a sharp pullback in US Treasury yields and drags the US Dollar lower from fresh year-to-date highs.

Ripple clings to $1.30 support as downside risks intensify

Ripple is stuck in a bearish trend, trading near $1.30 on Thursday. The remittance token’s bearish shift reflects the broader cryptocurrency market, which remains under heavy selling amid concerns about accelerating inflation in the US.

Budget preview: Is Healey impressing the bond market?

There is less than 2 weeks to go before the Chancellor delivers his first budget. Unusually for the UK, the economic and financial backdrop to this budget is upbeat. UK bonds have been rallying, the FTSE 100 is the top performing major stock index this week, and the Pound is also stabilising versus the Dollar.

Everyone's dumping Gold after hot US inflation. Here's why $4,100 could be a floor, not a cliff

Gold (XAU/USD) is recovering from a sharp sell-off triggered by hotter-than-expected United States (US) inflation data released on Wednesday. The precious metal briefly plunged toward $4,073 as investors increased their bets on further Federal Reserve (Fed) interest rate hikes before recovering as US Treasury yields and the US Dollar (USD) reversed their initial gains.