Taiwan stock market tipped to open under pressure
The Taiwan stock market on Wednesday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had climbed more than 300 points or 1.6 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 18,500-point plateau and the losses may accelerate on Thursday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on concerns over the outlook for interest rates, especially among the tech shares. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead. The TSE finished slightly lower on Wednesday following mixed performances from the financial shares, technology stocks and cement companies. For the day, the index eased 26.39 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 18,499.96 after trading between 18,446.52 and 18,619.61.
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Sensex gyrates 729 pts, ends 143 pts up
Domestic indices ended marginally higher on Friday amid consolidatory mood and mixed global cues. After starting gap-up, the BSE Sensex index marched ahead to hit a high of 60,130-mark intra-day. However, selling in select heavyweights like Bajaj twins, M&M, HDFC, Bharti Airtel, and L&T in the second half of the session erased gains. The index eventually ended at 59,745 level, up 143 points or 0.24 percent. It’s NSE counterpart, Nifty50, meanwhile, closed at 17,813, up 67 points or 0.38 percent. Grasim, ONGC, Hindalco, HDFC Life, Shree Cement, Tata Consumer Products, and Asian Paints were the top Nifty gainers today. Among large-caps, shares of Titan Company ended 1 percent lower today after hitting a record high of Rs 2,687 apiece on the BSE earlier today. “The company has witnessed a buoyancy in jewellery demand, driven by festive purchases in October and November which helped the division achieve a 37 percent growth for the quarter, it said in an update for Q3FY22.
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Japan’s Nikkei 225 drops nearly 3pc
Shares in Asia-Pacific declined on Thursday following losses overnight that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average notching its first decline of 2022. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped 2.88 percent to close at 28,487.87 while the Topix index dipped 2.07 percent to 1,997.01. Australian stocks also saw heavy losses as the S&P/ASX 200 fell 2.74 percent on the day to 7,358.30, with shares of Afterpay plunging nearly 11 percent. The Shanghai composite in mainland China closed 0.25 percent lower at 3.586.08 while the Shenzhen component slipped 0.663 percent to 14,429.51. South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.13 percent, closing at 2,920.53. Elsewhere, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index reversed earlier losses and closed 0.72 percent higher at 23,072.86. Chinese technology stocks listed in the city rose on the day, with Tencent up 1.49 percent while Alibaba jumped 5.68 percent and Meituan climbed 3.64 percent. The Hang Seng Tech index advanced 1.37 percent to 5,396.65.
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France stocks lower at close of trade
France stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the Foods & Drugs, Gas & Water and General Financial sectors led shares lower. At the close in Paris, the CAC 40 fell 1.72 percent, while the SBF 120 index lost 1.62 percent. The best performers of the session on the CAC 40 were Carrefour SA, which rose 6.29 percent or 1.09 points to trade at 18.34 at the close. Meanwhile, Societe Generale SA added 1.86 percent or 0.60 points to end at 32.85 and BNP Paribas SA was up 1.36 percent or 0.86 points to 64.19 in late trade. The worst performers of the session were EssilorLuxottica SA, which fell 4.81 percent or 9.24 points to trade at 182.74 at the close. Hermes International SCA declined 4.69 percent or 74.00 points to end at 1504.50 and Capgemini SE was down 4.37 percent or 9.30 points to 203.30. Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Paris Stock Exchange by 372 to 198 and 90 ended unchanged. The CAC 40 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of CAC 40 options, was unchanged 0 percent to 18.96 a new 52-week low. Gold Futures for February delivery was down 1.88 percent or 34.30 to $1790.80 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 1.91 percent or 1.49 to hit $79.34 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 1.39 percent or 1.12 to trade at $81.92 a barrel.
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U.S. stocks end lower Thursday
Stocks closed lower Thursday, putting the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index on pace for a 3.6 percent weekly decline, as Treasury yields climbed and expectations for a more aggressive pace of normalization of monetary policy from the Federal Reserve weighed on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.47 percent ended lower for a second straight day, shedding about 170 points, or 0.5 percent, to finish near 36,236. The S&P 500 index SPX, -0.10 percent shed about 0.1 percent, while tech-led selling continuing. The Nasdaq Composite COMP, -0.13 percent ended 0.1 percent lower, a day after booking its worst one-day percentage drop since Feb. 25. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard on Thursday said the Fed could start to raise its benchmark interest rate as soon as March. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was at 1.733 percent, its highest yield since March 31, according to Dow Jones Market Data.