European stocks closed slightly lower on Tuesday after reaching record peaks on the previous session on mixed earnings results, while markets continued to assess the outlook on global trade and European rates. The STOXX 50 inched down by 5,701 and the STOXX 600 lost 03% to 576. Pharmaceutical companies led the losses in the session with a 4.3% slump for Novartis after the Swiss giant posted softer earnings than expected. Roche and Novo Nordisk both fell 2.5% In the meantime, BNP Paribas fell 3.5%, also on an earnings miss. On the other hand, HSBC jumped 4.4% after raising its 2025...
The Nikkei 225 jumped 1.85% to close at 45,769, while the broader Topix rose 1.35% to 3,129 on Friday, with the Nikkei finishing at a fresh record as enthusiasm for artificial intelligence drove Japanese chip stocks higher. Sentiment was lifted after OpenAI's $6.6 billion share sale valued the firm at $500 billion, fueling optimism across AI-related sectors. Hitachi surged 10.3% on reports of a partnership with OpenAI, while SoftBank Group (+3.6%), Advantest (+4.3%) and Tokyo Electron (+2.3%) also posted strong gains. Politically, investors prepared for a pivotal ruling party leadership...
The Hong Kong stock market opened lower today. The Hang Seng Index fell 65 points, or 0.24%, to close at 27,221. The China Enterprises Index also fell 0.31%, while the technology index weakened 0.44%. Technology stocks showed mixed movements - Tencent and Alibaba recorded slight gains, while JD.com and Kuaishou experienced declines. Meituan and Xiaomi saw no price changes. In the financial sector, stock movements were also mixed. HSBC fell 1.1%, while stocks like AIA Group and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange were unchanged. In the automotive sector, most stocks moved lower. BYD, XPeng, and Li...
Asia-Pacific markets opened mostly higher Friday, tracking Wall Street gains as investors shrugged off the U.S. government shutdown. Investors are waiting to see how long the shutdown will last to assess the gravity of its economic repercussions. Historically, government shutdowns in the U.S. have not been market-moving events. Japan's September unemployment rate rose to 2.6%, government data showed Friday, higher than the 2.4% expected by economists polled by Reuters. The latest reading compared with the 2.3% unemployment rate in August. The country's September manufacturing purchasing...
Japanese stocks are expected to move higher on Friday, following Wall Street's record-breaking rally, fueled by OpenAI's latest funding and eye-catching valuations. Nikkei futures on SGX rose 35 points to 45,050, signaling a positive opening. In the currency market, USD/JPY was at 147.14 (vs. 147.26 late Thursday in New York), indicating a relatively stable yen. The stable exchange rate is boosting sentiment in export-oriented stocks. Investors will also be keeping an eye on Saturday's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leadership election, which could potentially influence domestic...
The Nasdaq marked a record closing high on Thursday with support from the technology sector while the benchmark S&P 500 barely managed to notch a record close as investors cautiously monitored private labor market data in the second day of a U.S. government shutdown. The benchmark index's valuation was around its highest level since 2020, with help from heavyweight technology companies including AI chip leader Nvidia and Broadcom. With no official government data available because of the shutdown, investors were monitoring information from other sources. A report from global...