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Investing.com - The Australian financial market is set to experience an unpredictable opening with the S&P/ASX 200 index adding just 0.1% after the first 10 minutes of trade. Despite encouraging leads from US stocks, the ASX's best performance since mid-July might prompt traders to cash in. As of Thursday morning, ASX 200 Futures saw a marginal increase of 0.2%.
Prominent companies such as Woodside Energy Ltd (ASX:WDS), Woolworths Ltd (ASX:WOW), and Rea Group Ltd (ASX:REA) are expected to start trading ex-dividend while riding on a three-day winning streak that has seen the ASX 200 rise by 2.6%. Meanwhile, US indexes also posted gains; the S&P 500 rose by 0.4%, the NASDAQ Composite added 0.5%, and Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.1%.
Meanwhile, commodities like Brent crude oil climbed half a percent to $85.95 per barrel whereas gold prices showed minor growth at $1942.32 per ounce.
On the bond markets, no change was observed for Australian two-year government bonds maintaining at 3.83%, whereas ten-year yields escalated to reach 4.07%. On the other hand, US Treasury notes demonstrated mixed results with unchanged two-year yields but lower ten-year yields at around 4.11%.
As for currency exchange trends - The Australian dollar remained steady against its American counterpart at 0.6474.
Among Asian indices, Chinese markets displayed varied outcomes amid global political uncertainties coupled with anticipation regarding potential economic stimuli from Beijing authorities.
Shares in Guangzhou experienced an uplift following the mortgage regulations relaxation announcement, making it the first significant city to implement consumption-boosting measures. Tech firms like Beijing Kingsoft Office Software In (SS:688111) showed growth of 2%, while Iflytek Co Ltd (SZ:002230) increased by over 6%. However, banking shares including East Money Information Co Ltd (SZ:300059) and Bank of China (SS:601398) suffered losses dragging down overall market performance leaving Shanghai Composite Index relatively stable&Shenzhen Composite Index gaining marginally (.04%).
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index mirrored these mixed sentiments, ending flat due largely to geopolitical tension concerns countering stimulus-driven optimism. Tech shares fell nearly 1%, with losses led by Meituan (HK:3690), Kuaishou Technology (HK:1024), and Tencent Holdings Ltd (HK:0700). However, property-related stocks enjoyed slight upticks thanks to eased mortgage rules boosting Ke Holdings Inc (HK:2423) and Longfor Properties (HK:0960).
Japanese equities concluded on a positive note, primarily fueled machinery electronics sectors Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (TYO:7011) and Kyocera Corp. (TYO:6971) made notable increases, while the Nikkei 225 improved modestly, with investors eagerly awaiting upcoming U.S jobs data for insights into future policy decisions.
