Oil falls more than 3% in mixed Asia-Pacific session; China manufacturing activity data ahead

SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Thursday morning trade as oil prices fell sharply.

In the morning of Asia trading hours, international benchmark Brent crude futures fell 3.46% to $109.52 per barrel. U.S. crude futures dropped 3.84% to $103.68 per barrel.

Those losses came after reports that U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration is considering releasing 1 million barrels of oil per day for several months from the strategic reserve.

In the broader Asia-Pacific markets, the Nikkei 225 in Japan slipped 0.23% while the Topix index dipped 0.33%. South Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.54%.

Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia gained 0.36% as shares of major miners jumped. BHP advanced 2.91% while Fortescue Metals Group rose 4.49% and Rio Tinto surged 2.08%.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded around 0.1% higher.

China is set to release its official manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index for March at 9:30 a.m. HK/SIN. The data release comes after an independent survey by China Beige Book showed China’s factories were hit harder in the first quarter than last year.

Overnight stateside, the S&P 500 declined 0.63% to 4,602.45. The Dow Jones Industrial slipped 65.38 points, or 0.19% to 35,228.81. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lagged, dropping 1.21% to about 14,442.28.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 97.873 as it struggles to recover after dropping from levels above 99 earlier in the week.