On Thursday, April 4, A-shares and Hong Kong stocks were closed for the Tomb-Sweeping Day/Easter holiday. The overall trading in the Asian market was slightly light, but the overall upward trend was driven by the rising expectations of the Federal Reserve's interest rate cut.

In terms of news, although the ADP report last night showed that the number of U.S. private sector jobs increased by 184,000 in March, which was stronger than expected, the U.S. service industry survey showed that its payment price index fell to the lowest point since March 2020, indicating that the policy is loose. Provided support. Federal Reserve Chairman Powell reiterated that the United States will still cut interest rates this year, but the specific point of the rate cut depends on the data.

Japanese yen depreciates, Japanese stocks rise sharply

Japanese stocks rose sharply as the yen weakened against all currencies except the U.S. dollar.

The Nikkei 225 index rose 1.24%, led by the materials, industrial and energy sectors, and Tokyo Electric Power rose nearly 10%, leading the gains in blue chips.

On the news, as Japan's easing policy is expected to continue, and the market further reduces the expected rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year and next, U.S. bond yields rebounded. On April 4, although the risk of Japanese intervention kept the U.S. dollar at 151.65 yen, a distance of 152 yen. The barrier was still a little short of the mark, but other currencies were not similarly restrained, with the yen falling sharply.

The euro rose to 164.44 yen, climbing 0.7%, recovering from four days of losses, and the Canadian dollar rose to 112.31 yen, a 16-year high.

Seoul Composite Index rose about 1%

Boosted by expectations of interest rate cuts, South Korea's Seoul Composite Index rose 0.97%, led by technology stocks, automobile stocks and energy stocks.

Among heavyweight stocks, SK Hynix, which officially announced that it will invest nearly US$4 billion to build a factory in the United States, rose 3.6%, Samsung and LG rose more than 1%, and Hyundai Motor rose nearly 1%.

Indian stocks pare gains after hitting new highs

Indian stocks opened at record highs again on Thursday but later gave up gains

The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index fell 0.07%; the BSE Sensex index fell 0.02%. Previously, the two indexes rose by about 0.7% respectively, and both hit record highs at the opening.

However, India's NIFTY Small Cap 250 Index rose 1.1%, having recovered the ground lost since the risk of valuation bubbles triggered regulatory concerns.

Gold hit a new high, oil prices hit a 5-month high, and copper hit a 13-month high.

The price of gold exceeded US$2,304 per ounce in the Asian market, setting a new record. Since the beginning of February, the price of gold has risen by more than 13%.

The tense situation in the Middle East and Ukraine's attack on Russian refineries have also pushed oil prices higher. Brent oil has approached US$90 per barrel, hitting a five-month high.

LME March copper futures surged above $9,050, a 13-month high. On the news, China's manufacturing PMI activity expanded for the first time in six months in March, business confidence hit an 11-month high, and a shortage of copper concentrate supply also provided support for the market.