The Hang Seng Index rose 192 points, or 0.75%, to end at 25,690 on Friday, extending its gains for a third session as all major sectors advanced. Sentiment was boosted by continued gains in mainland China's stock market amid reports that ByteDance had reached an agreement with three major investors to form a joint venture to operate the TikTok app in the US, aiming to avoid a potential ban. Hopes for fresh stimulus from Beijing before the end of the year also supported the market, while traders awaited the upcoming People's Bank of China (PBOC) interest rate decision. Man Wah Holdings...
Japan's Nikkei 225 index closed higher on Friday, buoyed by global market optimism after the Fed cut interest rates again and signaled a looser policy stance going forward. Falling US bond yields have boosted risk appetite, encouraging investors to invest more in stocks, including in the Japanese market. The weakening US dollar and the yen's slight weakening also helped sentiment, as Japanese exporter stocks still appear attractive to the market. Domestically, market participants remain cautious ahead of the Bank of Japan (BoJ) meeting on December 18-19, as speculation persists that the BoJ...
Hong Kong stocks rose around 272 points, or 1.1%, to 25,806 at the start of trading on Friday, after a slight correction in the previous session. This increase occurred across nearly all sectors, indicating improved buying sentiment among market participants. Market sentiment improved after President Xi Jinping stated at the Central Economic Work Conference that 2025 would be a "truly extraordinary year" and that key economic targets would be achieved. The Chinese government also reiterated its commitment to implementing more proactive and coordinated macroeconomic policies to stimulate...
Japanese stock indexes rose in recent trading, following Wall Street's recent record highs. This rise was supported by expectations that the Fed will maintain its loose monetary policy in the near term. The technology, metals, and electronics sectors led the gains, with SoftBank Group shares surging 4.9%, Sumitomo Metal Mining up 4.7%, and Hitachi Ltd. gaining 3.2%. In the foreign exchange market, USD/JPY traded around 155.58, slightly weakening from 156.09 at the close of trading in Tokyo on Thursday, reflecting slightly more positive sentiment towards the yen. Investors are also starting...
Asian stocks opened higher on Friday (December 12) morning after Wall Street and global equity indexes set new records. The MSCI Asia Stock Index rose about 0.5% early in the session, with the Japanese and Australian benchmarks gaining about 1%. Positive sentiment stemmed from the Fed's third consecutive interest rate cut, which encouraged investors to venture into riskier assets. Among leading stocks, SoftBank Group surged more than 5% after news that the company was considering potential acquisitions, including data center operator Switch Inc. In the US, the S&P 500 closed up 0.2% on...
The Dow jumped more than 600 points to a fresh record and the S&P 500 reversed early session losses to trade marginally higher, while the Nasdaq pared losses to roughly 0.5% on Thursday afternoon as investors rotated out of richly valued tech names and into cyclicals and beaten down value stocks after the Fed cut rates by 25 basis points to 3.50% to 3.75% and signalled a conditional easing path. Visa rose over 5% on an upgrade by Bank of America, while Mastercard and American Express added more than 4% and 1.5% respectively. Major names including JPMorgan (+2.2%), UnitedHealth (+3.1%),...