Japan’s Nikkei index losses over 3 pct, lowest intraday level in 14 months
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei stock index lost over 3 percent momentarily on Thursday afternoon, marking its lowest intraday level in around 14 months. The Nikkei index fell 888.58 points, or 3.29 percent. However, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average dropped 768.88 points, or 2.85 percent, from Wednesday to 26,242.45. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell 43.83 points, or 2.32 percent, at 1,848.02. Dealers said Thursday’s selloff gathered steam on mounting concerns of a U.S. Federal Reserve rate hike at an earlier juncture than expected.
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Sensex stages smart recovery, down 600 pts; SBI up 2pc
The key benchmark indices had recovered partially on the back of gains in banking and select auto shares. Select FMCG shares were also off the day’s low, while IT stocks continued to sag under selling pressure. The BSE Sensex was down 493 points at 57,365, and the NSE Nifty was down 139 points at 17,139. SBI and AXis Bank were the top gainers among the Sensex 30 shares, up over 2 percent each. Kotak Bank, Sun Pharma and Maruti were the other notable gaines. On the flip side, IT majors – HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Wipro and TCS were down 3-4 percent each. Dr. Reddy’s too was down 3.7 percent. The broader indices also trimmed significant losses. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were down 1.4 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively. Among sectoral indices, the BSE IT and Consumer Durables indices were down 2.5 percent each. The Healthcare index was also down nearly 2 percent. The Capital Goods and Realty indices were the other major losers. Whereas, the Bankex was up 0.7 percent, and the Auto index was flat. In the primary market, Adani Wilmar IPO was off to a slow start, with the IPO garnering only 33 percent subscription as of 02:15 PM. The retail portion was subscribed 69 percent, and QIBs 11 percent.
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European markets fall as investors react to Fed; stoxx 600 down 1pc
European stocks retreated on Thursday as global markets react badly to the latest monetary policy decision from the U.S. Federal Reserve. The pan-European Stoxx 600 dropped 1 percent in early trade, with tech stocks shedding 3 percent to lead losses as all sectors slid into negative territory except banks, which gained 0.6 percent. The Stoxx 600 was down 0.4 percent. In terms of individual share price movement, Deutsche Bank gained 4.7 percent after defying market expectations to post a profit for the fourth quarter of 2021, as investment bank revenues rose. The German lender said profit attributable to shareholders came in at 145 million euros ($162.7 million) for the final three months of the year— a sixth consecutive quarter of profit and almost triple its profit for the same period in 2020.
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Dow futures sink more than 300 points after Fed meeting
U.S. stock-index futures sank early Thursday, as investors digested the possibility of multiple interest-rate hikes by the Fed this year, starting as soon as March. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures YM00, -0.13 percent slid more than 300 points, or 1 percent, with S&P 500 futures ES00, -0.09 percent and Nasdaq-100 futures NQ00, 0.06 percent also off more than 1 percent. During regular trading Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.38 percent fell 129.64 points, or 0.4 percent, to finish at 34,168.09, after earlier pushing as high as 34,815.67. The S&P 500 index SPX, -0.15 percent shed 6.52 points, or 0.2 percent, ending at 4,349.93, while the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.02 percent added 2.82 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to close at 13,542.12. Trading was volatile again, and stocks fell from session highs after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell signaled that changes are coming to U.S. monetary policy. While saying no final decisions have been made yet, Powell said the Fed “was of a mind” to raise the federal-funds rate at its mid-March meeting for the first time since 2018, and didn’t rule out the prospect of rate increases larger than 25 basis points given the scope of the inflation challenge. Economists interpreted his comments as opening the possibility of more than four rate hikes this year.
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Canada stocks-Toronto market ends losing streak as energy shares rally
Canada’s main stock index edged higher on Tuesday, bouncing back from a steep sell-off earlier in the day, as resource shares benefited from geopolitical tensions boosting oil and gold prices. The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index ended up 19.68 points, or 0.1 percent, at 20,590.98, after declining in the five previous trading days. The index closed 2.3 percent above its session low, but sentiment remained fragile amid fears that Russia will invade Ukraine and ahead of interest rate announcements on Wednesday by the Bank of Canada and the Federal Reserve. Investors expect the Fed to signal an interest rate increase in March, while the Bank of Canada could hike for the first time since October 2018.
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Saudi stock exchange adopts global financial market principles
Saudi Arabia’s stock exchange, known as Tadawul, has fully embraced a framework of global financial principles designed to improve transparency and governance for all market constituents, it said in a filing. The newly adopted principles will help Tadawul address conflicts of interest in benchmark-setting and work on increasing transparency and reliability. Starting, Jan. 25, all parties shall comply with the framework outlined by the Principles for Financial Benchmarks of IOSCO – the International Organizations of Securities Commissions – a global body that has representatives from financial regulators worldwide.