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...
The Nikkei 225 Index edged up 0.15% to around 39,570, while the broader Topix Index gained 0.3% to 2,790 on Friday, marking a third consecutive day of gains for Japanese shares as investors responded positively to strong economic data. Retail sales in Japan exceeded expectations in December, and industrial production returned to growth. The country's unemployment rate also dropped to 2.4% in January, down from 2.5% in the previous two months, defying forecasts of no change. Local stocks also drew support from a positive lead on Wall Street, where solid earnings from major US tech companies...
Stocks wavered on Thursday after President Donald Trump reiterated his tariff threats. The Dow Jones Industrial Average popped 168 points, or 0.4%. At its session highs, it had added nearly 300 points. The S&P 500 rose 0.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.3%. Stocks cut gains late in the session after President Donald Trump announced his intention to implement 25% tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico.Elsewhere, Wall Street digested recent quarterly results from a slew of megacap tech companies. Shares of Meta Platforms and Tesla respectively added 1% and 3%, while...
Europe's benchmark index closed at a record high on Thursday, led by real estate stocks, as investors priced in more monetary policy easing by the European Central Bank this year and assessed a mixed bag of corporate results.The ECB lowered borrowing costs by an expected 25 basis points to 2.75% and kept the door open to further policy easing as concerns over lacklustre economic growth superseded worries about persistent inflation.The decision came on the heels of data showing the euro zone economy unexpectedly stagnated last quarter. Traders now expect about 70 bps worth of rate cuts by...
European stock markets rose on Thursday, as investors digested a flood of corporate earnings ahead of the European Central Bank's latest policy decision and the release of regional growth data. At 3:05 a.m. ET (08:05 GMT), Germany's DAX was up 0.2%, France's CAC 40 was up 0.3% and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was up 0.1%. European equities benefited on Thursday from a rise in U.S. stock futures after the release of quarterly results from a number of megatech companies after the previous session's close, following the Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates unchanged. However, attention...
Japanese stocks edged higher after the close on Thursday (1/30), as gains in the Communications, Electrical/Machinery and Manufacturing sectors helped stocks advance. At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was up 0.03%. The best performers on the Nikkei 225 were CyberAgent Inc (TYO:4751), which rose 4.94% or 56.00 points to close at 1,190.00. Meanwhile, DeNA Co Ltd (TYO:2432) gained 4.33% or 117.00 points to close at 2,820.00 and Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co Ltd (TYO:4506) gained 3.66% or 21.00 points to close at 594.00. The worst performers on the session were Japan Exchange Group Inc...