Japanese stocks closed lower on Thursday after the latest data showed real wages fell in November 2025 at the fastest pace since January, mainly due to a drop in one-time bonus payments. Market sentiment was also weighed down as the weakening wages emphasized household challenges amid persistently high price pressures. The Nikkei 225 index fell 1.6%, or 844.72 points, to 51,117.26. This wage data shows that inflation continues to outpace income growth, adding to the complexity for the Bank of Japan, which plans to continue policy normalization and open up room for interest rate hikes this...
Asian stocks opened lower on Tuesday, reversing Wall Street's rally fueled by Amazon's massive $38 billion deal with OpenAI. Stock markets in South Korea and Japan weakened after a long holiday, while Australian stocks fell ahead of central bank interest rate decisions that are expected to remain unchanged. Although the S&P 500 posted a small gain on Monday, more than 300 of its members declined. In other markets, the US dollar strengthened slightly, while gold fell 0.2%. The Japanese yen also weakened. Major tech deals from Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet have given Wall Street renewed...
The S&P 500 rose on Monday, led by tech, as a new month of trading began. The benchmark gained 0.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 18 points. Micron Technology gained 5% to lead chipmaker stocks higher. Nvidia and AMD were up 3% and around 1%, respectively. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) climbed 1.6%. Other tech names such as Meta Platforms and Palantir gained 1.2% and 2%, respectively. The moves came after data center company Iren reached a multiyear $9.7 billion deal with Microsoft to provide the megacap technology company...
European stocks opened slightly higher in November, with the STOXX 50 and STOXX 600 gaining 0.2%, after closing near record highs in October. Investors continued to digest recently released corporate earnings while awaiting new market catalysts. Bank and automaker stocks posted gains, with Unicredit, BBVA, Deutsche Bank, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW all rising more than 1%. BP rose 1.5% after agreeing to sell a stake in its US shale assets to Sixth Street for $1.5 billion. Nokia shares rose nearly 4%. Conversely, Ryanair fell nearly 2% despite posting slightly better-than-expected profit after...
The Hang Seng Index surged 252 points, or 1%, to close at 26,158 on Monday, reversing losses from the previous three sessions amid broad sector gains. Sentiment was boosted by the US-China trade truce, which includes US tariff reductions and the suspension of Beijing's new export restrictions on rare earth minerals and magnets. The US is also expected to suspend port fees for a year for ships connected to China starting next week. Local data supported the rally, with Hong Kong's economy growing 3.8% year-on-year in Q3, the fastest since late 2023, while retail sales rose 4.8% in September,...
Hong Kong stocks edged up 47 points, or 0.2%, at the start of November trading, reaching 25,949. This increase helped the market recover after three consecutive sessions of losses. The gains were primarily driven by financial and property stocks, supported by strengthening US futures after Wall Street posted weekly and monthly gains. Sentiment also improved after the White House announced that China would lift rare earth export controls and end investigations into US semiconductor companies in a new trade deal. Economically, Hong Kong reported 3.8% year-on-year growth in the third quarter,...