European stocks closed sharply higher on Wednesday (July 23), halting three previous trading sessions' declines, buoyed by speculation that the US might accept lower tariffs following a new trade deal with Japan. The Eurozone STOXX 50 rose 1.1% to 5,350, and the pan-European STOXX 600 gained 1.1% to 550. President Trump lowered tariffs on Japan to 15% from an initial threat of 25%, despite no reports of substantial progress in trade negotiations between the EU and the US. Progress on auto tariffs with Japan, which has significant exposure to automakers, lifted shares of BMW, Stellantis,...
The Nikkei 225 Index gained 0.2% to around 38,300, while the broader Topix Index advanced 0.3% to 2,700 on Tuesday, recovering some of the losses from the previous session, helped by gains in heavyweight bank stocks. Japanese shares also took cues from a positive lead on Wall Street, where both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite halted their recent declines. In comments on Monday, Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda signaled that the central bank would raise interest rates gradually if the economy develops as expected, though he provided no specific timeline for future hikes. Investors are...
Asia-Pacific markets opened higher on Tuesday, tracking Wall Street gains buoyed by a Tesla rally, and as investors wait to watch key Chinese financial policymakers speak at an investment summit in Hong Kong. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 traded 0.53% higher in its first hour of trade. Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 0.68%, while the Topix rose 0.65%. South Korea's Kospi and Kosdaq traded around the flatline. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index futures were at 19,766, higher than the HSI's last close of 19,576.61. The Reserve Bank of Australia will publish the minutes from its monetary policy meeting...
European markets were lower on Monday, with investors turning their attention to regional inflation data and to Nvidia earnings due this week. The pan European Stoxx 600 was down 0.38% at 2:40 p.m. London time, with major regional bourses and sectors mostly pulling back. Retail stocks led losses, down 1.17%, while oil and gas stocks added 0.36%.Markets had closed lower on Friday, with the Stoxx 600 recording its fourth consecutive weekly decline. This week, investors will be looking to several key regional data points, including the latest inflation data out of the U.K. on Wednesday. The...
The Nasdaq Composite rallied Monday as Tesla shares surged and Wall Street braced for major market-moving earnings reports. The Nasdaq advanced 0.3%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 60 points, or 0.1%. The S&P 500 edged up 0.1%. Tesla spearheaded the tech-heavy index's rally, popping 8% amid a Bloomberg News report, citing sources, that President-elect Donald Trump's team is working on ways to ease regulation on self-driving vehicles. Elsewhere, Apple and Netflix rose about 2%, while Advanced Micro Devices surged nearly 4%. Wednesday's report from the AI chip darling...
The Hang Seng rose 150 points or 0.8% to close at 19,577 on Monday, breaking a six-session of losses after China urged listed companies to lift share prices through mergers and acquisitions, employee stock schemes, cash dividends, and share buybacks. However, the index trimmed early rises following Morgan Stanley's downgrade of Hong Kong shares to "underweight" from "market weight". Most sectors advanced, notably financials, consumers, and tech. Geely Auto jumped 4.4% after Jefferies kept a "buy" rating, citing restructuring efforts to improve efficiencies. Some traders were cautious ahead...