Asia-Pacific stock markets are expected to open mixed on Friday, marking a cautious start to the new year. This movement follows the New Year's Eve close of US markets, where the three major Wall Street indexes weakened, although overall they still posted positive performance for 2025. Several major Asian markets remain closed for the New Year holiday, including Japan and mainland China. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index opened relatively stable with no major movements. Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index futures were at 25,648, slightly higher than the last close of 25,630.54,...
European stocks opened higher at the start of this week. The Stoxx 600 Index rose around 0.38%, with nearly all sectors and major exchanges trading in the green. The UK's FTSE, Germany's DAX, France's CAC 40, and Italy's FTSE MIB each also rallied at the opening. This increase occurred amid market focus on a series of European central bank decisions in the coming days. This week is a crucial moment for the ECB, Bank of England, Riksbank, and Norges Bank, which will hold their final policy meetings of 2025. The ECB is expected to hold interest rates at 2%, while President Christine Lagarde...
The Nikkei 225 index closed down around 1.3% at around 50,100 on Monday (December 15th), dragged down by negative sentiment from Wall Street, which just recorded its worst daily decline in three weeks, particularly in technology and AI stocks. Investors were also still digesting weak Chinese data, including declining investment and sluggish consumption, which has resurfaced concerns about global demand and pressured shares of Japanese exporters. Domestically, the Japanese stock market was also pressured by expectations of a Bank of Japan (BoJ) interest rate hike at its December 18-19...
The Hong Kong Stock Exchange opened lower on Monday, with the Hang Seng briefly dropping to 25,698 before recovering slightly to trade around 25,771 (down 0.79%). Pressure was also seen in the China Enterprise Index, which fell to 8,988 (-1%) and the Technology Index to 5,553 (-1.49%). Transaction value on the main exchange was recorded at around HK$51.9 billion, indicating a relatively active market despite cautious sentiment. This decline was primarily weighed down by major tech stocks: Tencent (-2%), Alibaba (-2.4%), Xiaomi (-1.9%), JD.com (-1.5%), and Kuaishou (-3.1%). Elsewhere,...
The Japanese stock market opened lower after sentiment in technology stocks, particularly semiconductors, worsened. The trigger came from Broadcom's disappointing sales outlook, coupled with reports that Oracle was delaying the completion of several data centers—aggravating market concerns about the magnitude of AI investments and the timing of their return. As a result, the Nikkei 225 fell 1.2% to 50,246.58, while the Topix index was flat at 3,423.70 in Tokyo morning. Amid the tech pressure, investors are turning to safer sectors such as pharmaceuticals and food. Financial stocks are also...
Asian markets opened lower in the last full trading week of 2025, fueled by concerns about the prospects for tech company profits and growing AI spending. The MSCI regional stock index fell around 0.4%, while South Korea, which has been riding the "AI euphoria" for some time, fell more than 2%. In the US, index futures fluctuated slightly after Wall Street closed lower on Friday, led by weakness in tech stocks. Bitcoin also slumped, dropping to around US$88,000. Global risk-on sentiment is waning as investors begin to question whether tech stocks are still worth their high prices and...