Asia-Pacific markets were set to open higher Friday, tracking gains on Wall Street following a batch of economic data that pointed toward a solid U.S. economy. Futures for Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 in Chicago were at 38,220 while their counterpart in Osaka last traded at 38,170 compared with the index's Thursday close of 38,173.09 Futures for Hong Kong's Hang Seng index last traded at 24,178, compared with the HSI's last close of 24,035.38. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was also set to start the day higher, with futures tied to the benchmark at 8,605, compared to the index's close of...
Japanese equities slipped on Friday despite Wall Street's gains, driven by cooling US inflation and anticipation of Federal Reserve rate cuts. The Nikkei 225 opened 42.84 points lower at 38,324.93. Investors are awaiting Japan's revised industrial production report for April; the preliminary reading showed a 0.70% increase year-over-year. Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba believes there's a significant gap in trade talks with the US, and he has no immediate timeline for an agreement, according to Bloomberg News on Thursday. This comes ahead of his anticipated meeting with...
(Hong Kong) The escalating tensions in the Middle East have impacted the financial markets, with the Hang Seng Index opening lower by 75 points or 0.31%, standing at 23,959 points. Concurrently, the H-share index dropped by 41 points or 0.47%, reaching 8,688 points, while the technology index also experienced a decline of 50 points or 0.95%, settling at 5,280 points. In the tech sector, there was a general softening trend, with Tencent showing a minor increase of 0.1%, while Alibaba witnessed a decrease of 1.5%. Similarly, Meituan fell by 1.2%, Xiaomi Group dropped by 0.5%, and Kuaishou...