The Hang Seng climbed 233 points, or 0.9%, to close at 26,855 on Tuesday, reversing early losses to hit a two-week high on broad-based gains. The index jumped 7% in September, its fifth straight monthly advance, and posted a third quarterly gain of 11.6%, fueled by AI optimism, strong inflows, and bets of fresh policy support from Beijing ahead of the October plenum. Still, upside was capped by U.S. political uncertainty, with Vice President Vance warning the government was "headed to a shutdown" amid stalled budget talks. Profit-taking also weighed as traders braced for China's week-long...
Asia-Pacific markets fell Wednesday, tracking Wall Street declines after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that "equity prices are fairly highly valued." Powell also signaled that the rate-cutting path wasn't clear and that the central bank faces a "challenging situation." Australia's ASX/S&P 200 lost 0.61%. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 0.33%, while the Topix lost 0.35%. South Korea's Kospi lost 0.11%, while the small-cap Kosdaq traded 0.39% lower. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was set to open higher, with its futures contract last traded at 26,188 against the...
A record-breaking US stock rally stalled on Tuesday, as investors weighed cautious comments from Federal Reserve officials and concerns about the sustainability of AI-driven commerce. The S&P 500 fell 0.5%, the Nasdaq 100 fell 0.7%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 88 points. Nvidia fell 2.8% after a Monday surge linked to its $100 billion OpenAI investment, as investors questioned the deal's structure and energy demand, while Oracle and Amazon fell 4.1% and 3.1%, respectively. On the positive side, Kenvue rose 1.7% after paring losses from Trump's criticism of Tylenol, and...
European stocks touched their highest in more than a week on Tuesday, lifted by a rally in luxury goods companies on higher U.S. spending and gains for wind energy stocks after a court ruled that Orsted could restart work on a U.S. offshore project. The pan-European STOXX 600 closed up 0.4%, after having touched its highest since September 16 earlier in the session. Most regional bourses also closed higher. Portugal stocks closed at their highest in more than three weeks after the country kept its budget surplus target for 2025, allowing it to continue reducing its debt ratio. Meanwhile,...
The Hang Seng dropped 185 points, or 0.7%, to close at 26,159 on Tuesday, its second straight decline and the lowest in nearly two weeks. Sentiment weakened as China's policy measures fell short of expectations following a press briefing by top financial regulators on Monday, including the PBoC governor. Locally, Hong Kong shut down ahead of Super Typhoon Ragasa, with most flights suspended until Thursday. In the U.S., three Fed officials signaled the need for caution on inflation, while markets awaited a speech from Chair Powell later today. Losses were partly limited by pledges from the...
European stocks edged higher on Tuesday, with the STOXX 50 and STOXX 600 both up 0.1%, supported by a tech-led rally on Wall Street and optimism over AI following news of a Nvidia–OpenAI partnership. Traders also awaited fresh PMI data from Europe's largest economies. France disappointed, with both services and manufacturing slipping into contraction territory. On the corporate front, LVMH (+0.5%), Siemens (+1%), Schneider Electric (+1.9%) and ABB (+0.7%) booked gains, while Orsted surged more than 7% after a US court ruling cleared the way to resume work on the Revolution Wind project off...