Both the STOXX 50 and STOXX 600 reversed early gains and closed down 0.6% and 0.8%, respectively, on Thursday, retreating from new record highs reached earlier in the session amid downbeat corporate results. Siemens shares plunged 9.1% after the company released a disappointing profit forecast for next year. 3i Group plunged 17.2% after warning of more cautious projections, and Deutsche Telekom reversed early gains and closed the session slightly in the red, even after again raising its 2025 forecast. Meanwhile, Merck jumped 4.9% after reporting operating profit that beat market...
The Hang Seng Index fell 0.9% to 26,518.27 on Friday morning (9:50 a.m. local time), following a pause in the Wall Street rally and concerns that AI hype has led to overpriced valuations. The biggest pressure came from large tech stocks: Baidu -3.2%, Alibaba -2.2%, JD.com -1.9%, followed by Li Auto -3.3% and Zijin Mining -4.5%. The Hang Seng Tech Index also fell 2.3%, putting the Hang Seng on track for its worst weekly decline in 10 weeks. Several stocks held off further losses: Pop Mart +1.6%, Trip.com +0.2%, and Hang Seng Bank +0.2%—continuing the previous day's 26% surge following HSBC's...
The Nikkei index weakened 0.4% to 48,397.29 in early trading, following Wall Street's overnight decline that sparked risk-off sentiment. According to Commerzbank Research analysts, the market is still searching for new catalysts amid a lack of US data releases due to the government shutdown, so the short-term direction is likely cautious. Several stocks led the decline: SBI Holdings -3.6%, Sugi Holdings -3.3%, and Sumitomo Forestry -2.7%. In the forex market, USD/JPY was around 153.15 (vs. 153.08 in New York), indicating a persistently weak yen—a factor that typically helps exporters, but...
Asia-Pacific markets mostly weakened on Friday, following Wall Street's decline as investors assessed economic conditions. The Nikkei 225 fell 0.33% and the Topix fell 0.92%; Australia's ASX 200 fell 0.26%. Hang Seng futures signaled a lower open at 26,354 (vs. the previous close of 26,752.59). In Korea, the Kospi closed 0.66% after a holiday, while the Kosdaq fell 0.37%. In the US overnight, the rally paused as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite retreated from intraday records. The general market index fell 0.28% to 6,735.11 and the tech index fell 0.08% to 23,024.63, while the Dow Jones...
US stocks pulled back on Thursday as investors paused to digest optimism around AI, interest-rate cuts, and the ongoing government shutdown. The S&P 500 lost 0.3%, the Nasdaq 100 down 0.1%, retreating from record highs reached in the prior session, and the Dow Jones fell 243 points. Market sentiments fell due to the shutdown, which has delayed key economic data, shifting focus to upcoming third-quarter earnings for insights into the economy and the AI-driven rally. Apple, Alphabet, Tesla, and Walmart all lost more than 0.7%, while PepsiCo rose 4.2% after stronger-than-expected revenue...
European stock markets were trading mostly lower on Thursday, as a privatization bid by HSBC for its Hong Kong-based subsidiary dragged down the wider banking sector in the region. The pan-European Stoxx 600 declined by 0.4% and the FTSE 100 in the United Kingdom shed 0.3%. HSBC, Europe's biggest lender, said it had put forward a proposal to shareholders that would make the entity, Hang Seng Bank, a "wholly owned subsidiary" of its Asia Pacific arm. Hang Seng, in which HSBC already has a 63% stake, would also be delisted from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the lender added. London-listed...