The Hang Seng slipped 224 points, or 0.9%, to close early at 25,630 on the final trading day of 2025, as markets closed early ahead of the New Year. The index reversed the prior session's strength as losses spread across all sectors, with tech, consumer, and financial stocks leading the declines. Still, the index posted a second straight annual gain, climbing nearly 28% in 2025. The rally was boosted by a buoyant IPO market in Hong Kong, easing U.S. China trade tensions, and Beijing's pledge to support economic growth through proactive fiscal spending and accommodative monetary...
Hong Kong stocks rose 21 points, or 0.12%, to 19,258 on Monday morning (11/25) after falling in the previous two sessions, mainly supported by gains in the financial sector. The market is trying to recover from a near two-month low after China's central bank kept the interest rate on its one-year medium-term lending facility unchanged at 2% for a second straight month following a record 30bps cut in September. Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures jumped as concerns over Donald Trump's impact on other countries' economies eased after the president-elect named Scott Bessent as Finance Minister....
The Nikkei 225 jumped 1.5% to above 38,800 while the broader Topix index gained 0.9% to 2,720 on Monday, with Japanese shares rising for a second straight session after suffering losses over the past two weeks. Local shares also mirrored Wall Street's gains, as strong U.S. economic data and optimism over the election outcome continued to support equities. Looking ahead, investors are focused on Tokyo's inflation figures, due later this week, as they are seen as a leading indicator of national price trends. Technology stocks led the rally, with significant gains from Lasertec (+3.2%), Tokyo...
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a new record on Friday, capping off a winning week for stocks. The blue-chip Dow gained 426.16 points, or 0.97%, to 44,296.51, a new all-time closing high and its third straight positive session. The S&P 500 added 0.35% to finish at 5,969.34 for its fifth winning day in a row. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.16% to 19,003.65. Gains were restricted by slides of more than 3% and 1% in Nvidia and Alphabet, respectively. The Dow ended the week about 2% higher, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each added about 1.7%. That marks a turn...
European stocks closed higher on Friday, as investors reviewed weak economic indicators from across the region which built expectations for central bank rate cuts. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index provisionally closed 1.18% higher, with all sectors except banks ending in positive territory. Health care and retail stocks led the gains, both up over 2%, while Europe's banking index slipped 2%. In the U.K., the pound fell to a six-month low against the U.S. dollar following U.K. retail sales data. The country's Office for National Statistics said that retail sales volumes lost 0.7%...
The S&P 500 and the Dow hovered at levels seen more than a week ago on Friday, as investors took comfort from data pointing to robust economic activity in the world's biggest economy. The domestically focused small-cap Russell 2000 index,outperformed large-cap indexes with a 1.3% rise. The index hit a more than one-week high and was set for weekly advances of nearly 4%. A measure of business activity raced to a 31-month high in November, boosted by hopes for lower interest rates and more business-friendly policies from President-elect Donald Trump's administration next year. At 11:29...