The Nikkei 225 Index climbed 0.87% to close at 44,937 on Thursday, snapping a four-day losing streak and tracking strong gains on Wall Street, with chip-related stocks driving the rebound. Despite concerns over the US government shutdown, equities were supported by robust capital spending and expectations of further Federal Reserve rate cuts. Regional sentiment also improved after OpenAI struck a deal with South Korea's Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to supply memory chips, reinforcing optimism around artificial intelligence. Among the standouts, chipmaking equipment maker Tokyo...
Shares in Hong Kong soared 319 points or 1.7% to 19,594 on Thursday morning session, holding their bullish momentum for the third session following an overnight rally on Wall Street on the back of an unexpected decline in US core inflation figures for December and robust bank earnings. Markets reached their highest level in a week, rebounding from a near 4-month low, touched last week, buoyed by robust gains across sectors. Li Ning surged nearly 3.0% after reclaiming the official sportswear partnership with the Chinese Olympic Committee. Additionally, UBTech Robotics climbed over 2% after...
Asia-Pacific markets climbed Thursday, after U.S. markets soared on the back of an unexpected decline in core inflation numbers in December and strong bank earnings.Korea's central bank surprised market watchers by keeping benchmark rates unchanged at 3%. Economists polled by Reuters had expected the Bank of Korea to cut its policy rate by 25 basis points.South Korea's Kospi was up 1.16% while the small-cap Kosdaq index was up 1.65%, following the announcement.Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 was trading up 0.61% while the Topix gained 0.23%. Japan's annual producer price index climbed 3.8% in...
The Nikkei 225 index rose 0.8% to around 38,750, while the broader Topix index gained 0.6% to 2,706 on Thursday, recovering some losses from earlier in the week and tracking a strong performance on Wall Street. U.S. stocks surged overnight, boosted by a surprise drop in core inflation and solid bank earnings. However, investors remained cautious about Japanese equities after Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda indicated on Wednesday that the central bank would discuss the possibility of raising interest rates at its next policy meeting next week. Meanwhile, data showed that Japanese producer...
Producer prices in Japan increased by 3.8% yoy in December 2024, keeping the same pace as in the previous month and aligning with market consensus. It was the 46th straight month of producer inflation, remaining at its highest level since June 2023, as cost continued to grow for transport equipment (1.7% vs 1.6% in November), beverages & foods (1.9% vs 2.1%), iron & steel (-0.1% vs -0.1%), electrical machinery (4.7% vs 4.1%), production machinery (1.8% vs 1.4%), general-purpose machinery (4.3% vs 4.3%), metal products (3.8% vs 4.0%), other manufacturing (3.6% vs 3.8%), plastics (3.6%...
U.S. stocks surged on Wednesday, with all three major indexes registering their biggest daily percentage gains in more than two months, as lower-than-expected December core inflation data and solid earnings from major U.S. banks fueled a rally. The Labor Department said the consumer price index (CPI) increased the most in nine months as energy costs rose, although a measure of underlying inflation pressures subsided. Data on Tuesday showed the producer price index (PPI) rose less than expected. According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 gained 106.45 points, or 1.82%, to end at...