Asia-Pacific stock markets are expected to open mixed on Friday, marking a cautious start to the new year. This movement follows the New Year's Eve close of US markets, where the three major Wall Street indexes weakened, although overall they still posted positive performance for 2025. Several major Asian markets remain closed for the New Year holiday, including Japan and mainland China. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index opened relatively stable with no major movements. Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index futures were at 25,648, slightly higher than the last close of 25,630.54,...
Wall Street kicked off December on a negative note, with the S&P 500 down 0.7%, the Nasdaq falling 1%, and the Dow Jones losing more than 250 points after a volatile November. Caution dominated markets ahead of several key economic releases this week, including the delayed September PCE report later in the week, all before next week's FOMC decision. Market pricing currently assigns an 87% probability to another 25 bps cut in the federal funds rate. The tech was the worst performing sector, followed by real estate, industrials and communication services while the energy sector managed...
The Hang Seng Index rose 0.7% at 26,033.26 in Hong Kong. The index advanced to the highest closing level since Nov. 17 after the previous session's decrease of 0.3%. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 2.2%. Sunny Optical Technology Group Co. had the largest increase, rising 6.2%. Today, 71 of 88 shares rose, while 17 fell; all sectors were higher, led by commerce and industry stocks. Source : Bloomberg
European stocks followed Asian equities lower as a sharp drop for cryptocurrencies indicated some investor caution ahead of a slew of US economic data due this week. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was down 0.2% by 9:22 a.m. in Paris, with the industrials and real estate sectors leading declines. European defense stocks fell after reports of progress in Ukraine-Russia talks, with Germany's Rheinmetall AG and France's Thales SA both declining. Among other individual movers, ASML Holding NV shares rose after the chip equipment maker was named top pick in the semiconductor...
Japanese stocks closed lower on Monday (December 1), led by the chip and real estate sectors, as expectations of an interest rate hike by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) grew stronger. Kioxia Holdings fell 5.6% and Mitsui Fudosan fell 3.7%, while the Nikkei 225 index plunged 1.9% to 49,303.28. The 10-year government bond yield rose 7.5 basis points to 1.875%, its highest level since June 2008, reflecting market pressure over the possibility of a rate hike. BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda confirmed that the central bank will discuss the possibility of a rate hike at its meeting later this month. The USD/JPY...
Hong Kong's equity market commenced Tuesday's trading session with modest gains, as investors displayed cautious optimism. The benchmark Hang Seng Index advanced by 86 points, or 0.33 per cent, to open at 25,945. Supporting the positive opening, the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index recorded a gain of 28 points to reach 9,158, while the technology-focused index added 11 points, opening at 5,611. Trading activity revealed a divided performance within the technology sector. Industry leaders Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group registered increases of 0.3 and 0.9 per cent respectively, while...