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...
Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Monday, tracking U.S. stocks futures that were lower ahead of key economic data, with escalating trade tensions denting investor sentiment.U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters Sunday that he was planning to announce a blanket 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports on Monday, according to Reuters.Over in Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 was down 0.1%, while the broader Topix index fell 0.27%, in choppy trading.The country reported loan growth of 3% year on year in January, falling slightly from December's 3.1%.South Korea's indexes opened lower,...
Hong Kong's equities surged 253 points or 1.2% to 21,389 on Monday morning deals, marking the third session of gains and holding their highest in three months. Optimism toward China's tech sector continued to boost sentiment following the sudden emergence of low-cost AI model DeepSeek. At the same time, concerns over deflation risks in the mainland eased after consumer inflation hit a five-month top of 0.5% in January, topping consensus of 0.4%. Gains were broad-based, with top movers from tech, consumers, and financials. Further increases were tempered by news that President Trump will...
The Nikkei 225 and Topix indexes showed mixed movements on Monday as global market sentiment was dampened by the looming threat of new US tariffs. On Sunday, US President Donald Trump announced a blanket 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports, set to take effect later today. Domestically, investors looked ahead to key earnings reports this week, particularly from Honda and Nissan, following the fallout from integration talks between the two automakers. Corporate earnings from SoftBank Group, Orix Corporation, Fujikura, Obayasha Corp, and Shiseido are also in focus. In contrast, shares...
Japan's current account surplus increased to JPY 1,077.3 billion in December 2024 from JPY 914.5 billion in the same month a year earlier, falling short of market estimates for a gain of JPY 1,362 billion. Still, it was the 23rd successive month of surplus in the current account, as the services account deficit decreased sharply to just JPY 0.21 billion from JPY 266.3 billion in the previous year. Also, the secondary income gap narrowed slightly to JPY 240.1 billion from JPY 251.5 billion. At the same time, the primary income surplus fell to JPY 1,275.5 billion from JPY 1,308.6 billion in...
Asia-Pacific markets were mixed Friday as investors assessed India's interest rate decision and Japan's household spending data. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.11% to end at 8,511.4. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.72% to close at 38,787.02 and the Topix traded 0.54% lower to end the trading day at 2,737.23. The country's household spending in December rose 2.7% year on year in real terms, sharply beat Reuters' expectations of a 0.2% rise. South Korea's Kospi shed 0.58% to close at 2,521.92, while the small-cap Kosdaq rose 0.35% to close at 742.9. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 1.1%...