European stocks ended mixed on the last trading day of the year. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed a shortened trading session 0.1% lower on Wednesday, with most sector indexes in negative territory. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended the day down 0.2%, bringing the index to an annual gain of 21.5% – its strongest yearly gain since 2009. Meanwhile, France's CAC 40 ended New Year's Eve down 0.2%, while Germany's DAX rose 0.6%. Italy's FTSE MIB gained 1.1%, bringing annual gains to 31.5% and its best year since 1998. Markets were open for a half-day of trading on Wednesday, and will be closed...
Hong Kong's equity markets commenced Wednesday's trading session in positive territory, with the benchmark Hang Seng Index rising by 169 points, or 0.65%, to reach 25,999. The rally was broad-based, with the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index climbing 52 points, or 0.56%, to 9,203, while the Hang Seng Tech Index gained 39 points, or 0.7%, settling at 5,646. The financial sector contributed significantly to the upbeat mood. Insurance giant AIA Group led the gains with a 1.6% ascent, while Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing advanced by 1%. HSBC Holdings and Ping An Insurance Group also...
Asian chip stocks opened higher on Thursday after Nvidia reported better-than-expected results and provided a highly optimistic outlook, reinforcing market confidence in the global AI-driven trading theme. Nvidia shares rose more than 4% in after-market trading after its third-quarter earnings and revenue beat expectations, along with a higher-than-expected fourth-quarter sales projection. CEO Jensen Huang called demand for Blackwell's next-generation chips "off the charts."In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index jumped as much as 3.7% early in the session, while the Topix index rose about 1.67%....
Japanese shares rose, rebounding from a four-day losing streak, as AI-related stocks climbed following an upbeat earnings forecast from US chip titan Nvidia Corp. The blue-chip Nikkei 225 gained as much as 3.7%, the most since Oct. 6, to 50343.25 while the broader Topix index rose as much as 2.3% to 3319.54 in early Tokyo trading. Tech names led the rise, with SoftBank Group Corp. jumping as much as 9.1% and chip gear makers Tokyo Electron Ltd. and Ibiden Co Ltd. advancing over 7%. The gains in Japan come after Nvidia's shares rose over 4% post-market following the company's...
US stocks finished higher on a volatile Wednesday session, reversing some of the sharp selling from the prior four sessions as markets digested a divisive Fed minutes release and awaited Nvidia's earnings after the close. The S&P 500 rose 0.4% and the Nasdaq 100 gained 0.6% while the Dow added 0.1%. Nvidia was up 2.9% as analysts expect solid, though moderating, revenue growth and will focus on its outlook for AI services and data centre compute capacity. Retail results were mixed with Target down 2.8% and Lowe's and TJX higher. The FOMC minutes showed disagreement among officials over...
European stocks inched higher on Wednesday to halt the selloff from the four prior sessions as markets continued to assess the outlook of the Fed's monetary policy and gauge fair values for the highly-speculative tech sector. The Eurozone's STOXX 50 rose 0.3% to 5,552 and the pan-European STOXX 600 inched above the flatline to 563. Investor sentiment, however, remained subdued as concerns over overvaluation in AI and tech stocks persisted, with Nvidia set to report quarterly results after the North American closing bell. Companies with exposure to AI were mixed ahead of the major event,...