Most Asian stock markets trade higher amid possibility of BoE rate cut in August

While most Asian stock market indices were trading higher on Thursday (14 July), the Shanghai Composite Index was trading lower by 0.41% at 3,048.10 as of 6.17am GMT amid the possibility of a rate cut from the Bank of England.

The UK's central bank is said to be mulling an interest rate cut, the first in seven years, to ease Brexit anxiety. Economists polled by Reuters expect the benchmark rate to be slashed by 25 basis points to a new record low of 0.25%. The central bank's nine-member Monetary Policy Committee is due to announce its decision at 12pm BST.

"Brexit doesn't mean a breakdown of the global financial system after all, nor a major slowdown in the economies outside the UK. Investor activity is slowing down after June 24 but uncertainty is gradually easing," Koichi Yoshikawa, executive director of finance at Standard Chartered Bank in Tokyo was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Elsewhere in Asia, Singapore's Straits Times Index which was trading lower in mid-morning trade was halted amid duplicate trade confirmation messages getting generated. While it initially said it would restart trading at 2pm, it later issued a notice that this would not happen, leaving investors clueless about when the market will actually reopen, according to a news report.

Indices in the rest of Asia traded as follows on 14 July at 6.39am GMT:

Overnight (13 July), the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 18,372.12, up 0.13%, while the FTSE 100 closed at 6,670.40, down 0.15%.

Among commodities, oil prices were in the green amid US data showing a fall in crude inventory, thereby increasing global glut concerns. While, WTI crude oil was trading higher by 1.34% at $45.35 (£34.32, €40.83) a barrel, Brent crude was trading 1.08% higher at $46.76 a barrel as of 6.49am GMT.