Asian stock markets are falling on Friday in anticipation of the release of fresh statistics on the US labor market, which may influence the further actions of the Federal Reserve, writes MarketWatch.
In addition, US stock indices showed negative dynamics in the trading session a day earlier.
In China, the festive “golden week” continues, in connection with which the exchanges of the mainland of the country do not work.
The value of the Japanese Nikkei 225 index decreased by 0.7% by 8:20 a.m. following the shares of technology companies. However, it may show an increase in the first week of the last four, says Trading Economics.
The leaders of the fall in quotations are papers of the electronics manufacturer Sharp Corp. (-3.8%) and retailer Seven & I Holdings Co. (-3.1%). In addition, the cost of Tokyo Electron (-1%), Keyence (-0.6%), Recruit Holdings (-2.2%) and Advantest (-1.6%) is declining.
Meanwhile, stocks of railroad operators Central Japan Railway Co. are on the rise. (+2.4%), East Japan Railway Co. (+1.9%), West Japan Railway Co. (+1.9%), Keisei Electric Railway Co. (+1.6%), Tobu Railway Co. (+1.5%).
The price of securities of the investment and technology SoftBank Group (+0.7%), the manufacturer of consoles and video games Nintendo (+0.2%) is rising.
The Hong Kong Hang Seng fell 1.3% by 8:25 am KSK. The index is falling for the second trading session in a row, but since the beginning of this week it has gained more than 3%.
The stock prices of Country Garden Holdings Co. developers fell most significantly on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. (-11.6%) and Longfor Group Holdings Ltd (-9%), automakers BYD (-5.1%) and Geely (-3.8%), online retailer JD.com (-3.7%) and consumer electronics manufacturer Xiaomi (-3.6%).
At the same time, securities of the Sands China Ltd casino operator are rising in price. (+2.8%), chip manufacturer Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (+1.1%), insurer AIA Group (+1%).
The South Korean index Kospi by 8:20 am Ksk decreased by 0.3%.
The value of the shares of automaker Hyundai Motor fell by 2%.
Meanwhile, stock quotes of one of the world’s largest manufacturers of chips and electronics Samsung Electronics Co. are up 0.2% despite the company forecasting a 31.7% fall in third-quarter profit amid weakening consumer demand.
The Australian S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.8%, following shares of banks and technology companies.
Xero Ltd fell 3.5%, Wisetech Global – 3.3%, Commonwealth Bank of Australia – 0.5%, Westpac Banking – 0.3%, Australia & New Zealand Banking and National Australia Bank – by 0.4%.
The capitalization of the world’s largest mining companies BHP and Rio Tinto fell by 1.7% and 1.4%, respectively.
Oil prices changed little on Friday morning after rising for four sessions in a row on the decision of OPEC+ to cut production by 2 million b/d.
The cost of December futures for Brent crude on the London ICE Futures exchange by 8:10 am CST on Friday is $94.22 per barrel, which is $0.2 (0.21%) lower than the closing price of the previous session. As a result of trading on Thursday, these contracts rose by $1.05 (1.1%) to $94.42 per barrel.
The price of futures for WTI oil for November in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) fell by this time by $0.19 (0.21%), to $88.24 per barrel. By the close of the market on Thursday, the value of these contracts increased by $0.69 (0.8%) to $88.45 per barrel.
Brent recently updated a maximum for a month, WTI – has grown to a maximum since September 14, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Both varieties could end the week up 11%.
Oil quotes have been rising since Monday, first on expectations of the OPEC + decision, and then on the decision itself.
Ministers of the OPEC+ countries on Wednesday approved a reduction in the quota for oil production in November by 2 million b/d compared to September. This is the largest decline since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
However, the real reduction in production will be less than the declared one – by 1-1.1 million barrels per day, the Minister of Oil of Saudi Arabia said, explaining that in some countries of the alliance, real production is in fact below the quota.
At the same time, further production cuts could accelerate the acceptance of a price cap for Russian oil by Western countries, analysts said.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Samantha Power discussed the implementation of the Ukraine Fast Recovery Plan and the details of programs designed to develop a safe space in Ukraine, the website of the Ukrainian head of state reported.
“Today, our main goal is to prepare for winter, create decent living conditions for the population in the liberated territories, and restore critical infrastructure as soon as possible. There is a big and ambitious thing that will happen after the victory of Ukraine, but there is something that is needed now and where you can help us,” Zelensky emphasized during a conversation with the USAID administrator.
The president of Ukraine presented Samantha Power with the Order of Princess Olga of the first grade, which she was awarded for her significant contribution to the development of interstate cooperation and consistent and important support of our state.
Zelensky also thanked her for the agency’s allocation of $55 million to prepare Ukraine’s heating infrastructure for winter amid Russian aggression, and also praised the level of economic and defense support provided by the United States to Ukraine.
“It is extremely important for us to have such an ally as the United States, which is a real leader in consolidating international support for Ukraine,” the president of Ukraine said.
Eleven bulkers carrying nearly 178,000 tonnes of agricultural products left Ukrainian ports on Thursday after receiving permission from the Joint Coordination Center (JCC).
“The Joint Coordination Center (JCC) reports that eleven vessels left Ukrainian ports today carrying a total of 177,950 metric tonnes of grain and other food products under the Black Sea Grain Initiative,” the center said.
They include six Turkey-bound vessels: the White Star (7,800 tonnes of barley), the Magnolia (6,600 tonnes of sunflower oil), the Hasan G (6,500 tonnes of peas), the Mera (6,300 tonnes of sunflower oil), the Sea Star (4,950 tonnes of wheat), and the Anastasia (3,700 tonnes of wheat), it said.
The Silver Lady vessel is carrying 49,100 tonnes of wheat to Spain, the Falcon S 33,000 tonnes of corn to Romania, the Zhe Hai 505 is heading to Algeria with 28,500 tonnes of wheat on board, the Serenity Ibtihaj is carrying 27,200 tonnes of corn to Israel, and the Umit G is heading to Greece with 4,300 tonnes of wheat aboard.
“Grains that reach a destination may go through processing and be trans-shipped to other countries,” the JCC said.
“As of October 6, the total tonnage of grain and other foodstuffs exported from the three Ukrainian ports is 6,372,498 metric tonnes. A total of 584 voyages (302 inbound and 282 outbound) have been enabled so far,” it said.
An increase in the number of oncological diagnoses is expected in Ukraine in the post-war period, which will be caused by insufficient diagnosis during the war.
This opinion was expressed by the participants of the round table held at the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Wednesday and dedicated to the problem of wartime oncology.
“Today, the influence of stress on the onset of cancer has not been proven, but during the war, all chronic diseases, including cancer, are definitely exacerbated. Therefore, we expect an acceleration in the development of cancer. Interruption in treatment and diagnosis leads to the worsening of the situation. The statistics of oncological diseases after our victory, I think, for many will be a big “surprise” in a negative way,” said Kostiantyn Kopchak, the deputy medical director of the Dobrobut network, said.
According to the forecasts of the deputy director for inpatient work of the Kyiv City Clinical Oncology Center, Tamara Hrushynska, the sad statistics on the incidence of oncology will be visible in 1.5 years.
“Some patients did not have the opportunity to receive the necessary medical care during active hostilities, for example, when there was only one family doctor in the whole city or people did not have the opportunity to get to the clinic. I think the sad statistics will appear in a year and a half. We will see that the number of oncological diseases will increase much, unfortunately,” she said.
She noted the number of patients in the Kyiv Oncology Center has not decreased, people traveled from different regions and received help.
For his part, Ivan Klymniuk, the head of the oncology department of the ADONIS clinic, said that almost the entire country had dropped out of the early diagnosis system for at least six months.
“People focused on survival and safety, they did not think about screening and diagnosis. We will see the echoes of the war in the field of oncology a little later, there will be many neglected forms. If earlier the patient could be diagnosed at the first-second stage, which makes it possible to stop the process, then now we will face the fact that cancer will be detected at the third-fourth stage,” he said.
At the same time, he stressed that now all representatives of the oncological service of Ukraine have consolidated and are providing assistance to patients.
The growth of neglected forms of oncological pathologies is also expected by the head of the parliamentary subcommittee on the prevention and control of oncological diseases of the committee of the nation’s health, medical care and medical insurance, Valeriy Zub.
“This is logical, because there were interruptions in treatment, untimely diagnosis and the inability to go to a medical facility. We predict and, unfortunately, we already see: the number of neglected forms of cancer has been growing in most cancer centers even in recent months,” he states.
Zub considers it necessary to reconfigure the work of the oncology service, since it will be necessary to carry out more complicated surgical interventions and apply more complex chemotherapy regimens.
According to him, the working group created in the Ministry of Health will develop proposals for adjusting the development of the oncological service, taking into account the current situation.
“The task is not to return the oncological service to the form in which it was before, but to make it better, in particular making regional oncology centers better,” he said.
JSC “Energy Company of Ukraine” is ready for any developments in the electricity market, in particular, to stop exports, said Vitaliy Butenko, General Director of the company.
“The situation in the energy sector of Ukraine today remains quite difficult in the context of the war. The company is ready for any scenario, including the cessation of exports,” Butenko said in a comment to the Energoreforma Internet portal on her request.
At the same time, he noted that the strategy of ECU JSC is primarily aimed at working in the domestic market.
“At the same time, we took advantage of the opportunity to export electricity, which made it possible for the state to earn additional profit. For 1.5 months, the income of three state-owned companies from the export activities of ECU amounted to almost UAH 2 billion, and the state’s share in electricity exports to Romania and Slovakia in September reached about 44%,” Butenko emphasized.
Regarding the loan in the amount of UAH 500 million, provided to the company NAEK by Energoatom, Butenko noted that its repayment does not depend on the presence or absence of exports.
“In accordance with our obligations to SE NAEK Energoatom, the state energy trader will repay the loan by the end of this year,” the head of ECU stressed.
As reported, a source of Energy Reform in the government said that from October 10 to October 15, a decision could be made to stop electricity exports to Europe, currently carried out at a capacity of 300 MW. The reason for this is the shortage of power generating capacities, associated, in particular, with the shutdown of all six units of ZNPP, the repair of 1.5 units at other NPPs and the possible withdrawal of another unit for repair, which leads to excess coal consumption, as well as a large number of TPP units in repair.
JSC “Energy Company of Ukraine” (JSC “EKU”), 100% of whose shares belong to the state, on August 17 for the first time entered the export of electricity in the Romanian and Slovak directions, from October 1 it began to export electricity to Poland.
Receipts from ECU by the state-owned NPC Ukrenergo (as a fee for the cross-section and transmission of electricity), SE Guaranteed Buyer (as part of the PSO for the population) and NNEGC Energoatom (payment for electricity) from August 19 to 13 September amounted to almost UAH 1.542 billion.
Earlier, Butenko said that state investments in ECU start-up capital, provided to him in August by NNEGC Energoatom in the form of repayable financial assistance in the amount of UAH 500 million, would be returned by the end of 2022.
According to ECU estimates, these investments can bring UAH 8.2 billion in income to state-owned companies by the end of the year.
JSC “ECU” is a diversified energy supply company that carries out operations for the purchase, sale, supply and market optimization of energy consumption for commercial customers. While the company supplies for export, however, it plans to work also in the domestic market. 100% of the company’s shares belong to the state, the powers to manage them are exercised by the Ministry of Economy.
