European shares were flat on Wednesday, with gains in heavyweight healthcare stocks offsetting the decline in the broader market, as investors fretted over a potential delay in the closely-watched U.S. jobs data. The pan-European STOXX 600 held steady at 557.9 points by 0711 GMT, after posting its third successive monthly gain in September. Local bourses were mixed. Germany's DAX was down 0.5%, while the UK's FTSE 100 climbed 0.2% to an all-time high. Healthcare stocks jumped 2.7% after Pfizer and U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said they had cut a deal in which the drugmaker...
The Hang Seng ended flat at 26,545 on Friday, as gains in tech and consumer stocks offset losses in financials and property. The index reversed early gains ahead of talks between China's leader Xi Jinping and U.S. President Trump today. Meanwhile, traders digested news that developer DeepSeek trained its new model with costs well below those reported by U.S. rivals. On the mainland, stocks dropped further after the PBoC signaled no urgency to ease policy despite weak August output. Meantime, U.S. futures were subdued after Thursday's Fed-driven rally amid a shift toward an easing...
The STOXX 50 and STOXX 600 hovered near the flatline on Friday as investors digested a week filled with monetary policy decisions. The Bank of Japan left interest rates unchanged as expected but surprised markets by announcing plans to begin unwinding its massive exchange-traded fund holdings. Traders also monitored a call between US President Trump and Chinese President Xi for signals on trade negotiations. On the corporate side, SAP (-0.9%) and ASML Holding (-1%) slipped into the red, while Airbus (+1.7%) and Banco Santander (+0.6%) posted gains. Source: Trading Economics
Japanese shares fell on Friday after the BOJ kept short-term rates at 0.5% but revealed two dissenting votes for a hike and moved to sell its ETF and REIT holdings. The Nikkei 225 fell 0.58%, or 264.26 points, to end at 45,039.17. The BOJ will sell about 330 billion yen in ETFs and 5 billion yen in J-REITs annually, around 0.05% of market turnover, and scrap its ETF lending facility. It said Japan's economy is recovering moderately, though exports and output are flat, housing investment is weak, and U.S. tariffs are squeezing manufacturers. Core CPI stands at 2.5-3.0% on higher food...
The Hang Seng Index started the day with a 38-point rise to 26,583 points but later retreated, currently down by 88 points or 0.33%, standing at 26,456 points. The H-share index dropped by 21 points or 0.22% to 9,435 points, while the technology index fell by 19 points or 0.3% to 6,251 points. The main board saw a turnover of 500 billion yuan. In the tech sector, there is a general softness observed as Tencent dropped by 0.3%, Alibaba by 0.8%, Meituan by 0.4%, Xiaomi Group by 1.9%, JD.com rose by 1.7%, and Kuaishou declined by 2.9%. Financial stocks are trending downwards with HSBC...
The Nikkei 225 Index climbed 0.9% to around 46,570 while the broader Topix Index advanced 0.8% to 3,185 on Friday, with Japanese equities hitting fresh all-time highs as investors awaited the Bank of Japan's policy decision, where rates are expected to remain unchanged. Still, markets are pricing in a possible 25 basis point hike in October amid signs of resilience in the economy. Investors also assessed data showing Japan's core inflation rose 2.7% in August, easing for the third straight month to the lowest since November 2024. Japanese stocks also mirrored Wall Street's rally, with the...