The Hang Seng Index reversed its downward trend in Hong Kong on Thursday (February 12th), weakening by around 0.9% to around 27,000 after a strong session earlier. This decline halted the momentum of the short term rally, as investors began to reduce risk in large cap stocks. Among the index's contributors, Tencent was a major drag, with its shares falling by around 2.3%, putting pressure on the technology sector, which has recently been a driving force behind market gains. Weakness in large cap companies like this typically quickly impacts sentiment due to their significant weighting in...
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index weakened again for the third consecutive day on Wednesday, falling 0.5% to 25,382.56 in the morning session. Sentiment was weighed down by investor concerns as they awaited signals on the direction of the Fed's interest rate policy next year, following Wall Street's sluggish overnight performance. Selling pressure was also felt in other indices: the Hang Seng Tech Index fell slightly by 0.1%, the CSI 300 in mainland China fell 0.7%, and the Shanghai Composite fell 0.5%. Large stocks such as WuXi AppTec, NetEase, and Kuaishou all fell around 1.6%-1.9%. One major...
Asian stock markets moved up slightly at the start of Wednesday's session, after Wall Street's sluggish overnight close, closing almost flat. Benchmark indexes in Australia and Japan rose slightly, while US stock futures barely moved. Meanwhile, Chinese stocks listed in the US actually fell around 1.4% due to the market's disappointment at the lack of stimulus signals from the Chinese Communist Party leadership meeting. In the bond market, the 10-year US Treasury yield held around 4.18% after a debt auction on Tuesday. The dollar index moved flat, and Bitcoin briefly reversed its initial...
The S&P 500 closed lower Tuesday as Federal Reserve kicked off its two-day meeting, which is expected to culminate in third rate cut for the year. At 4:0 ET p.m. (21:00 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 178 points, or 0.4%, and the S&P 500 index was 0.1%, while the NASDAQ Composite slipped 0.1%. Fed meeting kicks off as widely expected rate cut decision loomsThe Fed got its latest two-day policy meeting underway, which investors are expecting will end with a cut to U.S. interest rates on Wednesday. The chances of an easing from Fed's current target rate of 3.75%-4% now...
European stocks closed slightly lower on Tuesday, with the STOXX 50 slipping 0.1% and the broader STOXX 600 finishing near the flat line, as traders refrained from making large moves ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision tomorrow. The US central bank is widely expected to deliver a 25 basis point rate cut, though the 2026 outlook remains uncertain. Shares in Ray-Ban owner EssilorLuxottica declined 5.7% after Warby Parker announced plans to launch AI-powered glasses developed in collaboration with Google, heightening competition in the smartglasses market. Thyssenkrupp...
The Hang Seng Index plunged 331 points, or 1.3%, to close at a two-week low of 25,434 on Tuesday (December 9), extending its decline for a second session amid broad sector weakness. Investors were nervous ahead of the US Fed's decision on Wednesday, with speculation growing that the central bank might make a "hawkish rate cut" amid a divided committee and uncertainty over Powell's successor when his term ends in May 2026. Mainland Chinese stocks also weakened after recent gains as caution grew ahead of China's November CPI and PPI data due on Wednesday, with deflationary risks still in...