US stocks climb
US stocks surged over 2.5 percent on Friday, boosted by a robust US jobs report, plans for fresh Sino-US trade talks and as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell pledged patience and sensitivity to risks in the markets.
The rally puts Wall Street on course to erase all losses from a day earlier, when stocks plunged after slowing US factory activity on the heels of Apple Inc’s dire revenue warning fueled fears of a global economic slowdown.
Nonfarm payrolls surged by 312,000 jobs in December, the largest gain since February and sailed past economists’ expectations of 177,000 jobs. Wages also rose, while the unemployment rate improved, the Labor Department said.
All the 11 major S&P sectors were higher. Technology stocks , coming off their biggest one-day percentage drop since August 2011 on Thursday, jumped 3.8 percent, leading the gains.
The trade-sensitive industrials sector rose 2.7 percent after Beijing announced a new round of trade talks with Washington on Jan. 7-8 to try and resolve their dispute.
At 11:35 a.m., ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 593.82 points, or 2.62 percent, at 23,280.04, the S&P 500 was up 66.37 points, or 2.71 percent, at 2,514.26 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 229.58 points, or 3.55 percent, at 6,693.08.
The heavyweight FAANG stocks — Facebook Inc, Apple, Amazon.com Inc, Netflix Inc and Google-parent Alphabet Inc — surged between 3.6 percent and 7.8 percent, bolstering gains on the S&P and Nasdaq.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
Chinese stocks bounce back
China stocks bounced back from a more than four-year low on Friday, as optimism about trade talks with the United States helped sooth investor nerves and after a private survey showed solid growth in the service sector.
The CSI300 index rose 2.3 percent, to 3,031.82 points, by the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.8 percent, to 2,509.02 points. The benchmark Shanghai index briefly touched a more than four-year low just as the market opened. China and the United States will hold vice ministerial level trade talks in Beijing on Jan. 7-8. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index added 1.3 percent, to 25,390.46 points, while the Hong Kong China Enterprises Index gained 1.3 percent, to 9,967.20 points.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
[ads1]
Tokyo’s Nikkei index down in first trading day of 2019
Tokyo’s key Nikkei index plunged more than two percent on Friday, hit by a surge in the yen and sell-offs on Wall Street amid worries over the US economy. In its first trading session of 2019, the benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 2.26 percent or 452.81 points to close at 19,561.96 as it was catching up with other markets after the New Year’s break. The broader Topix index lost 1.53 percent or 22.93 points to 1,471.16.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
France stocks higher
France stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Utilities, Gas & Water and General Financial sectors led shares higher. At the close in Paris, the CAC 40 gained 2.72 percent, while the SBF 120 index climbed 2.70 percent. The best performers of the session on the CAC 40 were ArcelorMittal SA, which rose 6.58 percent or 1.140 points to trade at 18.460 at the close. Meanwhile, TechnipFMC PLC added 5.41 percent or 0.94 points to end at 18.23 and Credit Agricole SA (PA:CAGR) was up 5.18 percent or 0.481 points to 9.764 in late trade.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
Saudi Arabia stocks higher
Saudi Arabia stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Telecoms & IT, Media & Publishing and Hotels & Tourism sectors led shares higher. At the close in Saudi Arabia, the Tadawul All Share added 0.51 percent.
The best performers of the session on the Tadawul All Share were Al-Ahlia Insurance Company, which rose 7.65 percent or 0.88 points to trade at 12.38 at the close. Meanwhile, Saudi Advanced Industries Co. added 4.10 percent or 0.52 points to end at 13.20 and Alkhaleej Training & Education Co was up 2.90 percent or 0.38 points to 13.50 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Amana Cooperative Insurance Co (SE:8310), which fell 2.80 percent or 0.68 points to trade at 23.58 at the close. Saudi Chemical Company (SE:2230) declined 2.10 percent or 0.65 points to end at 30.35 and The Qassim Cement Co (SE:3040) was down 1.85 percent or 0.60 points to 31.80. Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Saudi Arabia Stock Exchange by 103 to 59 and 25 ended unchanged.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
Indian stocks decline
It was the 1st week of 2019 and things went south for the bulls. The S&P BSE Sensex broke below its crucial support at 36,000 and closed with losses of little over 1 percent for the week ended January 4. The S&P BSE Small-cap index which fell by about 23 percent outperformed Sensex, Nifty as well as the S&P BSE mid-cap index. The index fell by 0.09 percent, compared to a 1.2 percent fall in the Nifty and 1.39 percent drop seen in the S&P BSE Mid-cap index.
Living to their name, big returns in small packets, small-cap stocks which were beaten down last year managed to buck the trend as 18 stocks gave 10-50 percent return in 5 trading sessions. In the S&P BSE 500 index, there were hardly gainers. Quess Corp rose 13 percent while on the losing side, as many as four stocks fell in double digits which include names like Dena Bank (down 16 percent), Eicher Motors (down 12percent), Future Retail (down 12 percent), and Jet Airways (down 11.2 percent).