Author Archive

Lim Hui Jie

KEY POINTS

• Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 2.45%, leading losses in Asia after three straight days of setting new closing highs and closing at 41,190.68.
• In contrast, Hong Kong Hang Seng index surged 2.55%, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 set a new all time closing high.
• China’s exports beat expectations, climbing 8.6% year-on-year in June as compared to expectations of an 8% rise forecasted by a Reuters poll of economists.

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Holly Ellyatt@HOLLYELLYATT

LONDON — European stocks are expected to open higher Thursday as global markets look ahead to the next U.S. inflation reading.

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Gold prices extended gains on Friday to their highest level in a month following key U.S. jobs data the showed labor market was softening, lifting expectations around a Federal Reserve interest rate cut in September.

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Lim Hui Jie

KEY POINTS

• The Nikkei and the the broad-based Topix faltered and dipped from their record highs earlier in the session.
• The country’s household spending for May unexpectedly dipped 1.8% in real terms compared to the same period last year.
• South Korea’s Kospi was 0.9% higher, and the small-cap Kosdaq rose 0.61%. Heavyweight Samsung Electronics on Friday estimated that its second quarter operating profit will surge almost 15-fold.

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Gold prices edged up on Friday and were set for a second straight weekly gain, while traders awaited U.S. employment data to gauge the trajectory of the Federal Reserve’s potential interest rate cuts.

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Lim Hui Jie

KEY POINTS

• The Nikkei and the the broad-based Topix faltered and dipped from their record highs earlier in the session.
• The country’s household spending for May unexpectedly dipped 1.8% in real terms compared to the same period last year.
• South Korea’s Kospi was 0.9% higher, and the small-cap Kosdaq rose 0.61%. Heavyweight Samsung Electronics on Friday estimated that its second quarter operating profit will surge almost 15-fold.

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Gold prices drifted higher on Thursday after softer-than-expected U.S. economic data fueled hopes that the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates as soon as September.

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Lim Hui Jie & Dylan Butts@IN/DYLAN-B-7A451A107

KEY POINTS

• The Topix crossed its all-time high of 2,886.50, set in December 1989, while the Nikkei 225 surpassed an all-time high of 40,888.43 set in March.
• The Taiwan Weighted Index also reached a fresh high, surpassing its previous record of 23,406.1 set on June 20.
• Japanese companies delivered the largest wage hikes in three decades this year, according to the nation’s largest union. Workers’ pay is forecast to rise by 5.1%, according to labor union Rengo.

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Jenni Reid & Holly Ellyatt@HOLLYELLYATT

LONDON — European stocks opened higher Wednesday, as sentiment remains on edge ahead of two major elections.

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Gold prices edged lower on Tuesday as Treasury yields held firm, while investors digested comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and looked forward to U.S. jobs data due later this week for more signals on U.S. interest rate cuts.

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