Taiwan stock market tipped to reverse Wednesday’s losses
The Taiwan stock market on Wednesday ended the five-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 490 points or 2.9 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 17,200-point plateau although it’s tipped to find renewed support on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive after a couple of days of weakness, although sinking crude oil prices may cap the upside. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets are tipped to follow suit. The TSE finished modestly lower on Wednesday as losses from the financial shares and technology stocks were mitigated by support from the cement companies. For the day, the index lost 121.76 points or 0.70 percent to finish at 17,202.11 after trading between 17,167.39 and 17,282.76.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
Sensex sheds over 100 pts
Indian equity markts were under pressure on Friday amid muted investment sentiment across Asian markets and on record single-day spike of over 3 lakh Covid-19 cases for second consecutive day. Among the headline indices, the S&P BSE Sensex was at 47,950 levels, down 130 points, On the NSE, the Nifty50 was hovering close to 14,350 mark. Power Grid was the top gainer on the Nifty, up 4 percent, followed by NTPC, Axis Bank and IndusInd Bank. On the downside, DRL, Grasim, Shree Cement, Cipla and Britannia were the top losers in afternoon session. In the broader markets, the S&P BSE MidCap index was up 0.60 percent while the S&P BSE SmallCap index gained 0.75 per cnt.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
Dreams of a Nikkei record still distant as virus limits euphoria
When the Nikkei 225 Stock Average rallied to a three-decade high earlier this year, some saw the all-time record finally in sight. These days, those dreams are looking a little distant as the gauge has lost steam over the past month. Despite a 2.1percent gain on Thursday, the blue-chip index still trades nearly 5percent below its February high, with many seeing the index stagnant in this same range over the coming months. A sell-off through Wednesday was triggered by a number of factors. Japan’s government is set to declare another state of emergency amid a surge in coronavirus cases, while the country lags behind other major economies in the distribution of vaccines. Exacerbating the situation, the Bank of Japan is dialing back its buying of exchange-traded funds and no longer buys those tracking the Nikkei, while some investors are rotating out of value shares. As Japan’s earnings season kicks off in earnest next week, some expect the current stagnation to continue. “It’s tough to push equity prices to fresh highs,” said Ayako Sera, a market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank Ltd. in Tokyo, who sees the Nikkei 225 trading largely between 28,000 and 30,000 for the next while. “Things aren’t recovering to pre-virus days as people thought they would.”
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
France stocks higher at close of trade; cac 40 up 0.91pc
France stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Foods & Drugs, Gas & Water and General Financial sectors led shares higher. At the close in Paris, the CAC 40 gained 0.91 percent, while the SBF 120 index added 0.88 percent. Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Paris Stock Exchange by 368 to 218 and 84 ended unchanged. The CAC 40 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of CAC 40 options, was unchanged 0 percent to 18.96 a new 3-months low. Gold Futures for June delivery was down 0.73 percent or 13.05 to $1780.05 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in June rose 0.13 percent or 0.08 to hit $61.43 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract rose 0.18 percent or 0.12 to trade at $65.44 a barrel. EUR/USD was down 0.18 percent to 1.2011, while EUR/GBP rose 0.40 percent to 0.8672. The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.19 percent at 91.305.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
FTSE 100 rises; mid-caps end best day
Britain’s FTSE 100 ended higher on Thursday on higher retail stocks as last week saw a jump in footfalls and a weaker pound, while mid-caps rose to their best day in two weeks led by gains in construction company Morgan Sindall. The blue-chip FTSE 100 ended 0.6 percent higher, with retailers gaining nearly 2 percent as shoppers rushed rushed back to clothes and furniture stores last week when they reopened after three months of COVID lockdown restrictions. The pound fell 0.6 percent, erasing the week’s gains against the dollar, as investors weighed up the outlook for an economic recovery in Britain. The domestically-focussed mid-cap index gained 1.3 percent, with construction company Morgan Sindall up 19.6 percent as brokerages raised their price targets on the stock after it raised its annual outlook. The FTSE 100 has gained ~7 percent year-to-date on optimism that speedy COVID-19 vaccinations and constant policy support from the government would drive a stronger economic recovery, however it has largely underperformed its European peers.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
Goldman sachs says S&P 500 returns may tumble
Stocks got back on the horse on Wednesday, with both the Dow and S&P 500 indexes finishing at their second-highest levels ever, as investors continue to smile on strong economic growth prospects. Much of that momentum carried into Thursday. Strategists at Goldman Sachs are bullish on the U.S. economy, expecting sequential annualized U.S. gross domestic product growth to clock in at 10.5 percent in the second quarter of 2021. That would be the strongest quarterly growth rate since 1978 (outside of the surge in mid-late 2020, when the economy rebounded from a sudden halt). But it may not be good for stocks. Our call of the day is from the team at Goldman Sachs, led by Ben Snider, who warns that as economic growth peaks, investors should expect lower equity returns and higher volatility. Economists at the investment bank see U.S. GDP growth slowing modestly in the third quarter of this year before continuing to decline across the next several quarters.