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...
The Hang Seng tumbled 319 points or 1.4% to close at 23,282 on Monday, erasing gains from the previous session as losses spread across consumer, tech, and financial sectors. The selloff followed remarks by U.S. President Trump, who threatened a 25% tariff on iPhones not made in the U.S.—later adding Samsung would face similar treatment. iPhone supplier Luxshare slipped 0.2%. BYD tumbled 9% after launching steep discounts in a recent promotion, dragging down other EV makers: Geely Auto (-8.6%), Li Auto (-4.0%), NIO (-3.5%), and Xpeng (-4.4%). Caution also grew ahead of China's industrial...
Japan stocks were higher after the close on Monday, as gains in the Real Estate, Banking and Textile sectors led shares higher. At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 1.01%. The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Keisei Electric Railway Co., Ltd. (TYO:9009), which rose 5.77% or 77.00 points to trade at 1,412.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Lasertec Corp (TYO:6920) added 4.98% or 705.00 points to end at 14,865.00 and CyberAgent Inc (TYO:4751) was up 4.51% or 64.00 points to 1,481.50 in late trade. The worst performers of the session were Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd....
Major European bourses started the week in positive territory after President Trump announced a delay in the planned 50% tariff on the European Union, extending the deadline to July 9. The move came following a phone call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who stated that "Europe is ready to advance talks swiftly and decisively," but noted that "a good deal" would require time, "until July 9. Under the reciprocal tariff framework announced in April, the EU had been facing a 20% levy, which was temporarily reduced to 10% through the new deadline. Autos, banks,...
The Hang Seng Index started the day down by 95 points or 0.4%, closing at 23,505 points. The H-share index dropped by 33 points or 0.38%, settling at 8,550 points, while the tech index fell by 16 points or 0.32%, ending at 5,229 points. In the tech sector, Tencent saw a decrease of 0.5%, Alibaba dropped by 0.2%, Meituan fell by 0.5%, Xiaomi Group by 0.7%, JD.com by 0.8%, and Kuaishou by 0.5%. MINISO's performance faced a sharp decline of 14.7% following recent news. Among financial stocks, performances varied, with HSBC Holdings declining by 0.9%, AIA Group by 0.1%, China Ping An by 0.3%,...
Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Friday as investors assess a slew of economic data from the region. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.47% to close at 37,160.47 and the Topix climbed 0.68% to close at 2,735.52. South Korea's Kospi traded flat to close at 2,592.09 while the small-cap Kosdaq was down 0.24% to end the trading day at 715.98. Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.15% to close at 8,360.9. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index and mainland China's CSI 300 traded flat. The U.S. and China agreed to maintain communication following a call between Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma...