- February 5, 2025
- By: Admin1_blog
- Asia Market, Indices
Lee Ying Shan & Amala Balakrishner
Asia-Pacific markets mostly rose Wednesday after Wall Street rose overnight, shrugging off Trump tariffs and China’s retaliatory measures.
All eyes are on China, which resumed trading after the Lunar New Year holidays and as the Chinese government announced tariffs on U.S. imports in retaliation to duties on its exports.
Morningstar’s Asia equity analyst Kai Wang, says China’s tariffs on the U.S. are “largely symbolic given that only about 12% of total imports from the U.S. would be subject to tariffs.”
“A key takeaway from this development, at least for now, is that fundamentally there is less risk implied than expected before. However, escalation of the trade war remains a risk given Trump’s history of unpredictable behavior. Therefore, the volatility risk remains on the table for the next four years at least,” Wang wrote in a note Tuesday.
Mainland China’s CSI 300 Index started the day up, but reversed course to fall 0.58% to close at 3,795.08.
China’s Caixin Services PMI came in at 51.0 in January, compared with December’s 52.2 reading, showing a slowdown in the country’s services activity.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 0.97% in its final hour of trade.
Japan benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.09% to close at 38,831.48 while the broader Topix index gained 0.27% to close at 2,745.41.
South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.11% to close at 2,509.27 and the small-cap Kosdaq gained 1.54% to close at 730.98.
The country’s consumer price index for January rose 0.7% month on month and 2.2% annually — more than Reuters’ 1.97% estimate.
Indian stocks were mixed as the Reserve Bank of India holds its first monetary policy meeting under the new central bank governor, with investors expecting a rate cut when the meeting concludes on Friday.
The benchmark Nifty 50 was trading around the flatline, while the BSE Sensex index slipped 0.22%.
Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.51% to end the day at 8,416.90.
| TICKER | COMPANY | NAME | PRICE | CHANGE | %CHANGE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .N225 | Nikkei 225 Index | *NIKKEI | 38831.48 | 33.11 | 0.09 |
| .HSI | Hang Seng Index | *HSI | 20577.33 | -212.63 | -1.02 |
| .AXJO | S&P/ASX 200 | *ASX 200 | 8416.9 | 42.9 | 0.51 |
| .SSEC | Shanghai | *SHANGHAI | 3229.49 | -21.11 | -0.65 |
| .KS11 | KOSPI Index | *KOSPI | 2509.27 | 27.58 | 1.11 |
| .FTFCNBCA | CNBC 100 ASIA IDX | *CNBC 100 | 10205.93 | 89.74 | 0.89 |
Overnight in the U.S., the three indexes moved higher following the developments around global trade.
Software player Palantir popped about 24% on fourth-quarter results. AI major Nvidia advancing 1.7% during the session.
The tech-heavy index Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.35% to 19,654.02, while the S&P 500 rose 0.72% to 6,037.88. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 134.13 points, or 0.3%, to 44,556.04.
— CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Pia Singh contributed to this report.
Indonesia’s economy grows by 5.03% in 2024, topping estimates
Indonesia’s economy expanded by 5.03% in 2024, beating Reuters’ poll estimate of 4.98%.
The growth slowed marginally from the 5.05% seen in the previous year.
The Southeast Asian country’s economy grew 5.02% year on year in the fourth quarter, boosted by exports of goods and services, according to data released Wednesday from Statistics Indonesia.
— Amala Balakrishner
Gold futures hit a new record on safe-haven demand
Gold futures rose to a fresh record as investors flocked to the safe-haven asset, following China’s retaliatory tariffs on select U.S. imports.
Gold futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose to $2,875.8 per ounce, data from FactSet showed.
Price of the bullion continues to climb from the uncertain economic backdrop as a result of Trump’s trade war, ANZ wrote in a note dated Feb. 5.
“Gold hit a record high amid strong haven demand,” ANZ’s analysts wrote, adding that a softer greenback also supported investor demand.
Trump’s trade tariffs are just the “latest crisis to spur fresh record highs in the price of gold,” said BullionVault’s director of research Adrian Ash.
—Lee Ying Shan
China’s services activity slows in January as employment shrinks, Caixin PMI shows
China’s services activity growth slowed in January, as employment contracted further, according to a private sector survey on Wednesday.
The seasonally-adjusted Caixin/S&P Global services purchasing managers’ index decelerated to 51.0 in January, after hitting a seven-month high of 52.2 in December.
PMI reading above 50 suggests expansion while below that points to a contraction in activity.
The findings broadly align with China’s official PMI released last week, which indicated non-manufacturing activity grew but at a slower pace than the previous month.
Employment in the services sector shrank for a second consecutive month, as companies continued to cut costs, the Wednesday report said.
Caixin general composite PMI, which weighted both manufacturing and services sectors, fell to 51.1 in January from 51.4 in December.
— Anniek Bao
Shares in Kakao Corp subsidiary KakaoPay surge over 13%
KakaoPay, the mobile payment and digital wallet arm of South Korean platform Kakao Corp, surged as much as 13.5% Wednesday, extending gains since its earnings release.
The company on Monday reported a 25% year-on-year increase in its revenue to 766.2 billion won, led by its digital finance and digital payment segments.
Shares rose 5.8% Tuesday.
— Amala Balakrishner
South Korea’s inflation rises 2.2% in January, surpassing estimates
South Korea’s consumer price index for January rose 0.7% month on month and 2.2% annually, surpassing Reuters 1.97% estimate.
This was led by a year-on-year rise in the indexes for furnishings, household equipment, routine maintenance, food and non-alcoholic beverages and clothing and water, data released by Statistics Korea Wednesday showed.
— Amala Balakrishner
Stocks close Tuesday’s session in the green
Stocks finished higher on the second trading day of February.
The broad market S&P 500 rose 0.72% to end the session at 6,037.88, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.35% to close at 19,654.02. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also gained 134.13 points, or 0.3%, settling at 44,556.04.
— Sean Conlon
22 stocks in the S&P 500 hit new 52-week highs
Twenty-two stocks in the S&P 500 traded at new 52-week highs during Tuesday’s trading session.
Among those, 19 scored fresh all-time highs. Below are some stocks that hit this milestone:
- Fox Corporation Class A trading at all-time highs back to its creation as the portion not acquired by Disney in 2019
- Alphabet C shares trading at all-time highs back to the special distribution on April 2, 2014, when the nonvoting share was created, and it began trading on April 3, 2014
- Live Nation Entertainment trading at all-time-high levels back to its initial public offering in December 2005
- Netflix trading at all-time-high levels back to its IPO in May 2002
- Amazon trading at all-time-high levels since back to its IPO in May 1997
- Costco trading at all-time-high levels back to its IPO in December 1985
- Walmart trading at all-time-high levels back to when it first began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in August 1972
- Wells Fargo trading at all-time-high levels back through our history to 1968
- International Business Machines trading at all-time highs back to when it began publicly trading on the New York Stock Exchange in January 1962
- Palantir trading at all-time highs back to its IPO in September 2020
Meanwhile, 14 stocks in the broad market index, including Archer-Daniels-Midland and Hershey, reached new 52-week lows. ADM was trading at lows not seen since November 2020, while Hershey was trading at lows not seen since March 2021.
— Sean Conlon
Leveraged Palantir ETFs surge more than 40%
Palantir’s big day is pushing another leveraged ETF into the spotlight.
The GraniteShares 2x Long PLTR Daily ETF (PTIR) was up 41% in the afternoon on Tuesday, living up to its billing as a way to amplify the daily returns of Palantir’s stock.
The fund has already notched nearly 1.5 million shares of volume for the day, putting it within striking distance of its all-time high, according to FactSet.
Direxion’s Daily PLTR Bull 2x Shares (PLTU), which is smaller than PTIR, was also up more than 40% and has already broken is record for daily shares traded.
The two Palantir leveraged-long funds are less than a year old, and entered the day with less than $400 million in combined assets, according to FactSet. Leveraged funds tracking names such as Tesla, Nvidia and MicroStrategy have seen periods of high trader interest over the past few years.
— Jesse Pound
Source : cnbc
