The Nikkei 225 jumped 2.12% to close at 52,411, while the broader Topix Index rose 0.94% to 3,332 on Friday, with Japanese stocks hitting fresh record highs amid a strong rally in technology shares. The advance followed gains in US stock futures after upbeat earnings and sales forecasts from Apple and Amazon lifted sentiment across the tech sector. Among top performers, Advantest gained 3.9%, SoftBank Group 2.9%, and Fujikura 1.8%. Hitachi also surged 7.2% after reporting a 62% jump in first-half net income, while Socionext soared 16.7% on strong results. In contrast, Nissan Motor tumbled...
Oil jumped after a report that Iran could be preparing to attack Israel from Iraqi territory in the coming days, jolting the market's attention back to a potential flare-up of Middle East hostilities. Brent surged as much as 2% to trade above $74 a barrel on Friday, while West Texas Intermediate rallied toward $71. Iran is planning a strike through militias it backs in Iraq, which is expected to be carried out with drones and ballistic missiles, Axios reported, citing two Israeli sources it didn't name. Oil tumbled at the start of the week after a limited Israeli attack on...
The GBP/USD pair remains on the defensive around 1.2895, the lowest since August 16 during the early Asian trading hours on Friday. The major pair edges lower after the UK Labour government announced its first Autumn Forecast Statement on Wednesday. The US inflation, as measured by the Personal Consumption Expenditure Price Index (PCE), grew at a slightly faster-than-expected pace in September. Data released by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) on Thursday showed that the headline PCE rose 2.1% YoY in September, compared to 2.2% in August, in line with the market consensus of...
Gold was steady after its biggest one-day drop since July, as traders took profits near record-high levels and strong US data weakened the case for further monetary easing. Bullion traded near $2,745 an ounce and was on track to end this week little changed. The metal fell from a record-high on Thursday as Treasury yields climbed, reflecting a drop in expectations for aggressive Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts following an unexpected drop in new jobless claims and a pick up in underlying inflation. Higher rates tend to weigh on gold, which...