Britain's FTSE 100 index on Friday briefly surpassed the symbolic 10,000 points marker for the first time, extending gains after a bumper 2025. The FTSE 100 index — home to the U.K.'s most valuable blue-chip companies — ended the first trading day of the year 0.2% higher at 9,951, kicking off the year in positive territory. The index surpassed the 10,000 threshold at around 8:30 a.m. London time, before paring gains. Analysts told CNBC late last year that while the speed of the FTSE 100′s rise to the 10,000-point level was notable, investors should remain wary. The pan-European Stoxx 600...
The Nikkei index weakened 0.3% to 50,674.53 on Wednesday, dragged down by declines in technology and semiconductor stocks. SoftBank Group (-5.9%), Kioxia (-2.8%), and Advantest (-2.8%) led the decline, indicating that risk appetite for growth stocks remains fragile. Interestingly, the Topix index rose 0.5% to 3,338.87, signaling a rotation into more defensive or value sectors—such as financials, industrials, and raw materials—amid pressure on major tech names. This means the market is not entirely risk-off, but rather more selective. In the forex market, USD/JPY was at 154.07 (from 154.22...
The S&P 500 rose 0.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 630 points to a new record high, while the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.3% as investors shifted from technology stocks to blue-chip and cyclical stocks on expectations that a funding deal would pass the House of Representatives this week. Progress in the Senate toward reopening the government lifted sentiment in economy-sensitive sectors, while leading healthcare companies such as Merck (+4.8%), Amgen (+4.6%), and Johnson & Johnson (+2.9%) boosted the Dow. Hopes that the government's reopening would release delayed...
US stock indices were muted on Tuesday amid fresh labor market concerns and continued skepticism on whether AI valuations are warranted by fundamentals. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 inched lower, while the Dow was close to the flatline. Data from the ADP indicated an average of 11,250 jobs were lost per week through most of October, consolidating the wave of pessimistic labour reports released by other private sources. In the meantime, stocks with exposure to soaring AI capital expenditures remained under pressure from recent concerns of frothiness after SoftBank sold its entire $5.8...
Stocks in Europe were higher on Tuesday, with the STOXX 50 adding 0.5% and the STOXX 600 rising 0.6%, extending gains from the previous session, amid further signs the end of the US government shutdown is close. After a pact reached in the Senate on Sunday between some Democrats who defected the party's leadership and some Republicans, the US Senate voted 60-40 yesterday to pass a bill to end the longest ever government shutdown in the US. Fresh corporate updates also boosted investor sentiment. Shares of LVMH were up 1.8% after Bloomberg reported the luxury brand is set to open major...
The Hang Seng added 47 points, or 0.2%, to close at 26,696 on Tuesday, reversing morning losses amid eventual gains in property and financial stocks. Markets ended in the green for the second day, supported by relief over the impending end of the U.S. government shutdown, after the Senate passed a funding deal. At the same time, hopes grew that domestic activity in China will remain resilient toward year-end as Beijing continues its efforts to support the sluggish economy. Meanwhile, Hong Kong's final Q3 GDP figures are due later this week and may show modest improvement, according to flash...