Japan's Nikkei Stock Average is flat at 40681.72, as gains in electronics and brokerage shares offset declines in auto and pharmaceutical stocks. NEC Corp. is up 6.4% and Daiwa Securities Group is higher by 2.7%, while Honda Motor is down 1.7% and Chugai Pharmaceutical falls 1.2%. USD/JPY is at 148.27, compared with 148.25 as of Tuesday's Tokyo stock market close. Investors are focusing on quarterly earnings as well as any domestic political developments. Source: Marketwatch
European stocks are heading for a mixed open on Friday, as investors assess a signal that China is seeking trade negotiations will the U.S. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 were seen opening lower, according to IG data, with U.K. stocks moving higher. Most markets were closed on Thursday for the May 1 holiday. London's FTSE 100 ended a choppy session 0.02% higher to mark its 14th straight session in the green, drawing level with its best run since 2017. Earnings in Europe on Friday include bank Standard Chartered, which beat estimates with a 10% gain in first-quarter profit, Natwest and...
(Hong Kong) The Hang Seng Index rose 73 points, or 0.33%, to 22,192. The China Enterprises Index gained 23 points, or 0.29%, to 8,100. The Tech Index increased 24 points, or 0.48%, to 5,112. Tech stocks showed mixed performance. Tencent rose 0.2%, Alibaba increased 1.4%, Meituan fell 0.5%, Xiaomi Group gained 1.1%, JD.com rose 0.6%, and Kuaishou remained unchanged. Financial stocks also showed mixed performance. HSBC Holdings fell 1.2%, with Group Chairman Mark Tucker set to retire before the end of the year. AIA Group rose 2.4%, China Ping An remained unchanged, and Hong Kong Exchanges and...
The Nikkei 225 Index jumped 1% to around 36,800 while the broader Topix Index gained 0.5% to 2,693 on Friday, with Japanese shares scaling one-month highs as investors dialed back expectations on further interest rate hikes from the Bank of Japan this year. The benchmark indexes are also on track to advance for the third consecutive week, recovering all the losses triggered by US President Donald Trump's April 2 announcement of his sweeping reciprocal tariffs. On Thursday, the BOJ kept its policy rate unchanged at 0.5% and slashed its growth and inflation forecasts, signaling a lower...
Asia-Pacific markets trade mixed, even as all three key benchmarks on Wall Street advanced overnight on optimism that a slowdown in the global economy will not impede the progress of developments in artificial intelligence. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.12% at the open. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.99% while the broader Topix index advanced 0.62% in early trade. Over in South Korea, the Kospi index declined 0.54% while the small-cap Kosdaq was flat. Futures tied to Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index stood at 21,935, pointing to a weaker open compared to the HSI's last close of...
Stocks rose on Thursday after strong quarterly results from two Big Tech players eased concerns that advances in artificial intelligence would slow amid economic turmoil. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 83 points, or 0.2%. The S&P 500 gained 0.6%, near its level before President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariff announcement in early April. The Nasdaq Composite rose more than 1%. Investor concerns that Trump's tariffs and a U.S. economic downturn would threaten AI trading eased after Meta Platforms posted stronger-than-expected first-quarter revenue, with Meta Chief...