The Asian stock markets are expected to open lower on Thursday, as concerns over the debt situation in the Eurozone persist. Borrowing costs increased in Spain, Italy and even in Germany amidst the uncertainty.
The focus has shifted away from Spain and toward the second round of elections in Greece this weekend. In addition, credit rating agency Egan-Jones has downgraded Spain's sovereign rating to CCC+ from B.
In addition, the U.S. Commerce Department reported that retail sales were down for the second consecutive month.
The major U.S. averages finished firmly lower on Wednesday as the Dow fell 77.42 points or 0.6 percent to finish at 12,496.38, while the NASDAQ slid 24.46 points or 0.9 percent to end at 2,818.61 and the S&P 500 dropped 9.30 points or 0.7 percent to 1,314.88.
The major European markets ended mixed on Wednesday as the DAX of German finished lower by 0.14 percent and the CAC 40 of France dropped by 0.55 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. rose by 0.18 percent and the SMI of Switzerland gained 0.42 percent.
The Asian markets finished mostly higher on Wednesday as China's Shanghai Composite jumped 1.27 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng collected 0.82 percent, Japan's Nikkei climbed 0.60 percent, South Korea's KOSPI climbed 0.25 percent, Taiwan rose 0.24 percent, Indonesia gathered 0.20 percent, India added 0.11 percent and Malaysia was up 0.01 percent.
Moving lower, Australia eased 0.17 percent, while Singapore's Straits Times shed 0.36 percent, Thailand fell 0.41 percent and New Zealand plunged 1.28 percent.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Market Analysis
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.