Hong Kong's stock market was under pressure again at the start of the week as investors remained cautious ahead of the release of US September non-farm payrolls (NFP) data on Thursday—the first significant data since the 43-day government shutdown. Uncertainty about the Federal Reserve's interest rate direction dampened risk appetite. The Hang Seng Index fell 0.7%, extending its 1.9% decline from Friday, while Hang Seng Tech fell 0.6%. The biggest pressure came from technology and travel stocks, including Trip.com, which fell 3.9%, Baidu, which fell 2.1%, and WuXi AppTec, which fell 2.7%....
Japanese stocks closed at a new record high after market sentiment grew more optimistic. Investors now believe the US Fed will continue to cut interest rates after US inflation (CPI) data appeared more benign. This has led global markets to believe that high interest rate pressures will soon ease. Domestically, strong public support for the new Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, also helped boost risk appetite. The result: the Topix rose 1.7% to 3,325.05, and the Nikkei jumped 2.5% to 50,512.32—breaking through the psychological 50,000 level for the first time. These gains were nearly uniform....
The Hang Seng Index rose as Hong Kong markets expressed relief following the initial agreement between China and the United States in Kuala Lumpur. Investors began to believe that trade relations between the world's two largest economies would be more stable, leading to a return to risk appetite. On Monday morning, the Hang Seng rose around 0.7% to 26,342, while the Hang Seng Tech Index also rallied. Major technology and industrial stocks led the gains: WuXi AppTec surged more than 7%, Chinese chipmaker SMIC rose almost 4%, Baidu rose almost 3%, and Alibaba also rose above 3%. This means...
That the US and China were nearing a trade deal triggered a cross-asset rally, lifting stocks, oil and copper along with China-exposed currencies such as the Australian dollar. Treasuries and gold dropped. Asian shares rose 0.8% with stocks in Japan and South Korea jumping by around 2%. Futures for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 advanced after both underlying indexes closed at a record high last week. Futures for US copper — a bellwether for global growth — surged, as did oil, with the potential US-China deal bolstering the outlook for global demand. The...
Japanese stocks are expected to continue strengthening due to a combination of two factors favored by the market: a weakening yen and expectations of economic stimulus from Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's government. Nikkei futures traded on the SGX were recorded as rising around 1.5%, while USD/JPY was trading around 153 per US dollar, weakening from its previous closing level. A weak yen is usually good news for Japanese exporters because their dollar sales appear larger when converted into yen. On the political front, market participants are closely monitoring the economic measures being...
Three major US indexes closed at new record highs after a lower-than-expected inflation report raised the possibility of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut later this year and prompted investors to shift to riskier assets. The S&P 500 rose 0.8%, the Nasdaq rose 1%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 470 points. Technology stocks led the rally, with AMD and IBM surging 7.5% and 8.77%, respectively, after IBM said it had successfully implemented a key quantum error correction algorithm on AMD chips, boosting sentiment across the sector. Intel rose 1.6% after returning to...