Asia-Pacific markets set to track Wall Street gains as oil declines

Group 1: Oil Market - International benchmark Brent crude futures decreased by 2.84% to $100.21 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures fell by 5.28% to $93.50. Brent later increased by 1% to $101.58 per barrel, and WTI rose by 2% to $95.47 [1] - The U.S. stock market experienced a rise as oil prices pulled back, indicating a potential recovery from a previous losing week [5] Group 2: Asia-Pacific Markets - Asia-Pacific markets saw gains, with Australia's S&P/ASX 200 increasing by 0.27%. The Australian central bank is anticipated to raise rates for the second consecutive time, bringing the key policy rate to 4.1%, the highest since April 2025 [2] - Japan's Nikkei 225 rose by 0.75%, and South Korea's Kospi increased by 2.94%. Memory makers SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics saw stock increases of over 3% and 4%, respectively, following Nvidia's CEO's announcement of expected purchase orders reaching $1 trillion through 2027 [3] Group 3: Company Developments - Meta shares increased by more than 2% due to a report suggesting potential layoffs of over 20% of its workforce, which the company has labeled as "speculative" [6] - Nvidia shares rose by more than 1% as its GTC conference commenced [6]