The Hang Seng Index plunged 404 points, or 1.6%, to close at 24,773 on Thursday (July 31), marking its third consecutive decline and its lowest close in two weeks. Sentiment worsened after China's official PMI showed services activity grew at its slowest pace in eight months and factory output fell the most in six months, amid rising trade barriers and extreme weather. Meanwhile, US President Trump's "reciprocal" tariff suspension is set to expire on Friday, with only eight trade deals reached in the past 120 days. On the monetary front, Fed Chairman Powell dismissed expectations of a...
Shares in Hong Kong climbed 322 points or 1.4% to 22,941 in early trade on Monday, marking the second straight session of surge, driven mostly by strength in tech and consumers. The Hang Seng held at its highest in over four months, due to a softer US approach to reciprocal tariffs and optimism for the China's tech sector following the emergence of a low-cost AI model. Tencent Hlds. surged 7.5%, as its app, Weixin, launched beta testing with Deepseek. Meanwhile, the PBoC pledged last week to further tweak monetary policy to spur recovery while maintaining ample cash and aligning money supply...
The Nikkei 225 Index climbed 0.13% to 39,200, while the broader Topix Index advanced 0.2% to 2,765 on Monday, recovering some of the losses from the previous session as investors responded positively to Japan's better-than-expected economic growth figures. The country's economy expanded by 0.7% quarter-on-quarter in the fourth quarter, up from 0.4% growth in the prior quarter and surpassing expectations of 0.3%. On an annualized basis, Japan's GDP grew 2.8% in Q4, matching forecasts and accelerating from a 1.7% expansion in Q3. Despite the positive data, investor sentiment remained cautious...
Asia-Pacific markets opened mostly higher Monday, as investors parsed Japan's fourth-quarter economic growth data, while awaiting a slew of central bank decisions from the region this week. Japan's Nikkei 225 traded around the flatline, while the Topix added 0.15%. South Korea's Kospi added 0.18% andthe small-cap Kosdaq added 0.35%. Japan's economic expansion in the fourth quarter beat analysts' expectations for quarter-on-quarter and annualized growth, preliminary government data showed Monday. On an annualized basis, GDP grew 2.8%, exceeding the Reuters estimates of 1%.The Japanese yen...
Stocks were little changed on Friday after a strong week, as investors digested the latest news on global trade and inflation. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 101 points, or 0.2%. The S&P 500 rose 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.3%. Stocks were on track to end the week in the green, as sentiment improved after investors gained more certainty about President Donald Trump's tariff plans, while fresh inflation data turned out to be more constructive than previously expected. Traders also shrugged off data released Friday that showed a 0.9% drop in retail sales for January,...
European stocks closed lower on Friday, easing from record highs hit in the last session but still sharply higher for the week as markets continued to assess the chances of peace in Ukraine this year and the impact of potential tariffs from U.S. President Trump. The euro zone STOXX 50 fell 0.2% to close at 5,488 after hitting a record high for the first time in 25 years yesterday, while the pan-European STOXX 600 fell 0.3% to 552. Trump announced plans for reciprocal tariffs on a country-by-country basis, which will come into effect as early as April. Healthcare and insurance companies led...