Britain's FTSE 100 index on Friday briefly surpassed the symbolic 10,000 points marker for the first time, extending gains after a bumper 2025. The FTSE 100 index — home to the U.K.'s most valuable blue-chip companies — ended the first trading day of the year 0.2% higher at 9,951, kicking off the year in positive territory. The index surpassed the 10,000 threshold at around 8:30 a.m. London time, before paring gains. Analysts told CNBC late last year that while the speed of the FTSE 100′s rise to the 10,000-point level was notable, investors should remain wary. The pan-European Stoxx 600...
The Nikkei 225 jumped 1.1% to above 38,900 while the broader Topix index rose 1% to 2,728 on Friday, with Japanese shares snapping a three-day slide as solid GDP data lifted market sentiment. Japan's economy expanded 0.3% year-on-year in the third quarter, ending two straight quarters of declines amid further improvements in private consumption and government spending. Local shares also benefited from a sharply weaker yen that boosted the profit outlook for Japan's export-driven industries. Meanwhile, investors remained cautious after U.S. Fed Chair Powell said that strong U.S. economic...
Stocks extended losses after Jerome Powell signaled the Federal Reserve is in no rush to cut rates as the economy is holding up. The equity market closed near session lows, US two-year yields spiked and the dollar climbed after Powell's remarks. Traders dialed back bets on a December rate reduction to around 55% — from 80% in the previous day. "Powell's speech was hawkish," said Neil Dutta at Renaissance Macro Research. "I think they will still cut in December since policy remains restrictive and they want to get to...
European stocks extended morning gains and closed sharply higher on Thursday, trimming the losses from the prior two sessions with support from a batch of earnings, while markets continued to gauge the impact that the new Republican-led US government may have on the global corporate sector. The Stoxx 50 added 1.9% to close at 4,830, and the Stoxx 600 rose 1.1% to close at 507. ASML, the Stoxx 50's heaviest company, soared 7% after the company forecasted sales to grow by 8% to 14% over the coming five years. Also, Siemens added 4.9% after posting a higher-than-expected profit although it...
Stocks struggled to make headway, following a furious post-election rally that spurred calls for a breather amid signs of buyer fatigue. Equities wavered near all-time highs, with the S&P 500 remaining close to technically overbought levels. That's after a surge that drove the benchmark gauge up 25% this year. Several measures highlight strong trader optimism, including the latest figures from the American Association of Individual Investors, which showed a spike in bullish sentiment last week. In the run-up to Jerome Powell's speech on Thursday, traders...
The Hang Seng plunged 388 points, or 2.0%, to close at 19,436 on Thursday, marking its fifth session of declines and hitting a seven-week low amid sharp declines across all sectors. It was the first time the Hang Seng remained fully open despite the bad weather, with many participants reluctant to enter any trades. Traders shrugged off China's latest efforts to reverse a property slump through tax incentives on home and land transactions. Concerns about Sino-U.S. tensions also grew as China tightened its grip on rare earth exports. The technology index slumped about 3%, taking its losses...