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...
The Hang Seng Index rose as Hong Kong markets expressed relief following the initial agreement between China and the United States in Kuala Lumpur. Investors began to believe that trade relations between the world's two largest economies would be more stable, leading to a return to risk appetite. On Monday morning, the Hang Seng rose around 0.7% to 26,342, while the Hang Seng Tech Index also rallied. Major technology and industrial stocks led the gains: WuXi AppTec surged more than 7%, Chinese chipmaker SMIC rose almost 4%, Baidu rose almost 3%, and Alibaba also rose above 3%. This means...
That the US and China were nearing a trade deal triggered a cross-asset rally, lifting stocks, oil and copper along with China-exposed currencies such as the Australian dollar. Treasuries and gold dropped. Asian shares rose 0.8% with stocks in Japan and South Korea jumping by around 2%. Futures for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 advanced after both underlying indexes closed at a record high last week. Futures for US copper — a bellwether for global growth — surged, as did oil, with the potential US-China deal bolstering the outlook for global demand. The...
Japanese stocks are expected to continue strengthening due to a combination of two factors favored by the market: a weakening yen and expectations of economic stimulus from Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's government. Nikkei futures traded on the SGX were recorded as rising around 1.5%, while USD/JPY was trading around 153 per US dollar, weakening from its previous closing level. A weak yen is usually good news for Japanese exporters because their dollar sales appear larger when converted into yen. On the political front, market participants are closely monitoring the economic measures being...
Three major US indexes closed at new record highs after a lower-than-expected inflation report raised the possibility of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut later this year and prompted investors to shift to riskier assets. The S&P 500 rose 0.8%, the Nasdaq rose 1%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 470 points. Technology stocks led the rally, with AMD and IBM surging 7.5% and 8.77%, respectively, after IBM said it had successfully implemented a key quantum error correction algorithm on AMD chips, boosting sentiment across the sector. Intel rose 1.6% after returning to...
European stocks closed slightly higher on Friday amid a mix of corporate earnings reports, while markets assessed the outlook for European growth and interest rates. The STOXX 50 edged up to 5,674, and the STOXX 600 gained 0.2% to close at a record 575. Sanofi rose 3% on better-than-expected third-quarter earnings, and Saab jumped 6% after raising its full-year organic sales forecast. NatWest also jumped 5% on higher third-quarter earnings and an improved performance target. ENI also jumped nearly 2% after releasing its earnings results. Meanwhile, Safran fell 1.4% despite beating analysts'...