Hong Kong shares dropped 371 points, or 1.4%, to 25,258 Tuesday morning's session, extending steep losses from the previous day as all sectors retreated. Risk appetite was burdened by declines in mainland markets after weak November data showed fragile industrial output and retail turnover amid soft external demand and shaky domestic conditions. Local equities neared their lowest in a week, following a negative lead from Wall Street, where AI and tech weakness persisted. Losses were partly offset by domestic data showing Hong Kong's manufacturing output rose for a fourth straight quarter in...
The Nikkei 225 Index rallied 2.2% to around 34,980 while the broader Topix Index jumped 2.3% to 2,590 on Wednesday, with Japanese shares hitting a three-week high and tracking a strong rebound on Wall Street. Those moves came as US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent signaled a potential easing in the US-China trade dispute, calling the current tariff standoff "unsustainable." Later in the day, President Donald Trump reinforced market optimism by confirming he has no plans to remove Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, helping to stabilize sentiment around central bank independence and policy...
The Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.4% to above 37,600 while the broader Topix Index gained 0.4% to 2,767 on Friday, reversing losses from the previous session as the recent phone call between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping lifted market sentiment. The two leaders agreed to resume trade negotiations aimed at ending the ongoing trade war. In Japan, data showed that household spending unexpectedly declined in April, reflecting the impact of rising prices on consumer demand. The softer spending figures add to the growing list of considerations for the Bank of Japan as it...
European stock markets edged mostly lower on Tuesday, as investors kept tabs on ongoing political turbulence in France and the United States that threatened to dampen enthusiasm around artificial intelligence dealmaking. The pan-European Stoxx 600 slipped by 0.2% and the Dax in Germany fell by 0.1%. The FTSE 100 in the United Kingdom and the CAC 40 in France were both mostly flat. The CAC 40 fell sharply on Monday on news of a surprise resignation of the country's new Prime Minister, Sebastien Lecornu. Two days of last-minute discussions between the outgoing Lecornu and members of several...
Japanese stocks fell, led by the financial sector, as investors were shaken by revelations of loan problems at two regional US banks that raised concerns about the credit market. The Topix index fell 1% to 3,170.44 at the close of trading in Tokyo.Of the 1,672 stocks in the index, 446 rose and 1,169 fell, while 57 were unchanged. The Nikkei index fell 1.4% to 47,582.15, poised for its first weekly loss in eight weeks."Rather than focusing on specific sectors, it feels like we're seeing limited risk-off sentiment," said Tetsuo Seshimo, portfolio manager at Saison Asset Management. "Small...