Stocks in Hong Kong surged 413 points, or 1.6%, to 26,043 in early trade on the first trading day of 2026, rebounding from losses in the previous session as markets reopened after the New Year break. Sentiment was lifted by a marked rise in U.S. futures, following solid year-end gains on Wall Street in 2025. While U.S. equities underperformed the strong returns of the past two years, annual gains remained resilient despite a global sell-off triggered by tariff announcements in April. All sectors of the Hang Seng Index participated in the rally, led by tech, consumer, and property stocks....
European stocks are expected to open higher across the spectrum as expectations rise that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in December. The U.K.'s FTSE index is seen opening 0.25% higher, Germany's DAX up 0.7%, France's CAC 40 up 0.67% and Italy's FTSE MIB 0.64% higher, according to data from IG. Regional bourses look set to follow their counterparts on Wall Street and in the Asia-Pacific region higher amid expectations that the Fed will cut when it next meets on Dec. 9 and 10. Markets are pricing in almost an 85% chance of a quarter percentage point cut by the central...
Hong Kong stocks rose again for a third straight day on Wednesday, approaching their longest winning streak in two weeks. The Hang Seng Index rose 0.6% to 26,039.99, supported by tech stocks such as Meituan, which surged 6.6% ahead of its earnings release, ZTO Express (up 3.5%), BYD (up 2.7%), and JD.com (up 1.8%). Meanwhile, Alibaba edged down 0.1% after its September-quarter profit plunged 52% year-on-year, although the decline was still better than market expectations. Positive sentiment also spread to mainland China, with the CSI 300 index rising 0.5% and the Shanghai Composite Index...
Asian stock markets continued their rally for a third day, tracking gains on Wall Street. Indexes in Japan, South Korea, and Australia opened higher after the S&P 500 rose 0.9% and the Nasdaq 100 gained 0.6%. Meanwhile, markets also focused on Chinese stocks after Alibaba weakened in US trading following its earnings report. This positive sentiment arose after US consumer confidence data for November fell sharply and retail sales rose only slightly. The data signaled that consumer spending was beginning to slow after several months of strong demand, reinforcing market expectations that...
Japanese stocks rose early in the session as the market remained hopeful that the Fed would cut interest rates, following Wall Street's overnight rally. The electronics and technology sectors were the driving force, with Lasertec shares rising 2.8%, Murata Manufacturing up 2.7%, and SoftBank Group also rebounding, rising 2.3% after earlier weakness. On the currency side, the USD/JPY pair hovered around 156.16, down slightly from 156.74 at the Tokyo market close on Tuesday. Investors also continued to monitor Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's economic policies to gauge the direction of Japan's...
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher on Tuesday (November 25th) after posting another rally, as traders weighed expectations for a Federal Reserve interest rate cut and the state of artificial intelligence trading. The blue-chip index gained 664.18 points, or 1.43%, to close at 47,112.45. The S&P 500 rose 0.91% to close at 6,765.88, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.67% to end at 23,025.59. This marked a reversal from earlier losses. At its session low, the S&P 500 fell about 0.7%, while the tech-heavy Dow Jones and Nasdaq were down more than 100 points, or 0.2%, and...