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.

The Japanese yen traded at 122.40 per dollar, still stronger than levels above 124 seen against the greenback earlier this week. The Australian dollar was at $0.7508, having largely traded in a range between $0.747 and $0.753 so far this week.