Asia-Pacific trading recorded a mixed session once more, but Chinese stocks were leading gains on Thursday, as markets continued to monitor the possibility of a recession. Initially, mainland Chinese markets had been struggling for direction, but managed to end the day in the green.

Rise in Most Indexes

There was a 2.19% increase recorded in the Shenzhen Component, as it reached 12,514.73, while a 1.62% increase was seen in the Shanghai Composite, as the index reached 3,320.15. There was also a 2% gain in the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong, but it closed the day higher by 1.26% at 21,273.87.

There was also a 2.28% gain the Hang Seng Tech index, as there was an almost 10% spike in Xpeng and a 6.4% rise in Alibaba. The Nikkei 225 index in Japan was also mildly higher, as it reached 26,171.25. But, there was a fractional decline in the Topix, as it closed the day at 1,851.74.

South Korea’s Kospi had recorded gains early in the session, but gave them up later and fell by 1.22% to end at 2,314.32. Meanwhile, there was a 4.36% decline recorded in the Kosdaq, as it reached 714.38. There was a 0.31% rise in the S&P/ASX 200 index in Australia. A 1% increase in the MSCI’s index of Asia Pacific shares excluding Japan.

Singapore’s economic data showed that core inflation had reached 3.6% in the previous month, as opposed to a year ago. This was slightly higher than the 3.5% predicted and 3.3% recorded in April.

US stocks Declined Overnight

On Tuesday, US stocks had recorded a bounce but had been trading lower overnight. There was a 0.15% decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, as it fell by 47.12 points to reach 30,483.13. A 0.13% fall in the S&P 500 was also recorded, as it fell to 3,759.89. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite fell by 0.15% to reach 11,053.08.

Market analysts said that even though efforts had been made to buy the bottom, there had only been sideways trading seen in the market. They said that the percentage changes sound a lot bigger than they really are and most rallies that occur are modest at best. The problem is that the outlook of the fundamentals is only deteriorating.

On Wednesday, Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell said that the central bank was committed to bringing down inflation, which has reached a high of 4 decades. He added that while the recession was not their intended target, but it could be a possibility. He also stated that the global events in the last couple of months had made it more difficult for them to achieve their 2% inflation target, while the labor market remains strong.

Oil Falls

Asia trading saw oil record declines by more than 1%. There was a 1.58% decline in Brent crude futures, as it hit $109.97 a barrel. Meanwhile, a 1.66% decline in US crude futures was also seen, which brought prices to $104.43 per barrel. The US dollar index was trading at $104.645.