Japan stocks lower at close of trade
Japan stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the Pharmaceutical Industry, Power and Marine Transport sectors led shares lower. At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 declined 0.05 percent. Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 1998 to 1579 and 269 ended unchanged. The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 2.71 percent to 21.99. Crude oil for July delivery was up 0.25 percent or 0.17 to $68.44 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in August rose 0.25 percent or 0.18 to hit $73.38 a barrel, while the August Gold Futures contract fell 1.23 percent or 24.15 to trade at $1,944.75 a troy ounce.
Sensex, Nifty nearing all-time high; bank, finance shine
Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty were in the green mirroring the overnight rally in Wall Street as markets bet that Fed will ultimately decide to put a pause on further rate hikes. Almost all indices, barring IT, gained in today’s trading with banks and auto topping the charts. HDFC twins, Reliance and ITC contributed to the gains in Sensex. On Wednesday, Fed had warned that it could raise interest rates two more times this year in its battle against inflation. It’s already hiked its benchmark rate to the highest level since 2007, which has helped slow inflation somewhat but has also caused severe pain in some areas of the economy. Asian stocks posted modest gains on Friday following the surge in Wall Street’s key indices. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo closed at a level not seen in 33 years, climbing 0.7 percent. European stock markets also started on a positive note, reflecting similar trends across the globe.
European shares rise on defensive boost
European shares climbed on Friday, underpinned by defensive healthcare and utilities stocks at the end of a week that was dominated by major central bank policy decisions. The continent-wide European STOXX 600 (.STOXX) index rose 0.4 percent. The index was on track for weekly gains of 1.4 percent, its best performance in two months. The healthcare index gained nearly 1 percent and utilities climbed 0.9 percent to a seven-week peak.
UK’s FTSE 100 dips on scope of tighter monetary policy
UK’s benchmark FTSE 100 dipped on Thursday, dragged down by miners’ stocks amid prospects of global monetary policy tightening lasting for longer, while events organiser Informa jumped on a strong earnings outlook.
The resource-heavy FTSE 100 fell 0.1 percent at 0805 GMT, while the domestically focused FTSE 250 midcap index was little changed. The ECB is seen raising rates to their highest level in 22 years later in the day and leave the door open to more hikes, a day after the US Federal Reserve left rates unchanged but projected rates rising by half a percentage point by 2023 end. With the Bank of England (BoE) also poised to raise rates by 25-basis-points next week, investors have struggled to balance maintaining exposure to rising equities against possible headwinds from tighter monetary policies. The FTSE 100 is down 0.5 percent so far this quarter after rising for two quarters, during which it jumped nearly 11 percent – its strongest rise over two quarters since early 2021.
S&P 500 leaps to highest close in 14 months
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq surged on Thursday to close at their highest in 14 months, as investors cheered economic data that fueled bets that the U.S. Federal Reserve is nearing the end of its aggressive interest-rate hike campaign. Treasury yields slid after a slew of economic data pointed to easing inflation, helping offset worries about future rate hikes and boosting Apple and Microsoft to record highs. Data showed U.S. retail sales unexpectedly rose in May as consumers spent on a range of goods including vehicles. Another data set showed jobless claims were unchanged at a seasonally adjusted 262,0000 for the week ended June 10, but were above economists’ forecast of 249,000 claims.
Nasdaq composite index closes up 53.16 points for the week
Thursday’s session closes with the NASDAQ Composite Index 156.34 This is the 6th straight day of increase for the index. The total shares traded for the NASDAQ was over 5.36 billion.
Advancers stocks led declining by 1.96 to 1 ratio. There were 3052 advancers and 1555 decliners for the day. On the NASDAQ Stock Exchange 154 stocks reached a 52 week high and 39 those reaching lows totaled. The most active, advancers, decliners, unusual volume and most active by dollar volume can be monitored intraday on theMost Active Stocks page.
The NASDAQ 100 index closed up 1.2 percent for the day; a total of 179.79 points. The current value is 15,185.48.
Dow Jones today: Microsoft leads index higher
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) rose 1.3 percent, or about 430 points, after retail sales data showed Americans are still increasing their spending, a sign of resilience amid slowing inflation. Retail sales rose 0.3 percent in May, defying Wall Street expectations of a decline. Initial jobless claims also came in higher than expected, pointing to a potential softening of the labor market. The encouraging data helped lift stocks across the board with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both rising 1.4 percent. Leading the Dow higher was Microsoft, which climbed 3.1 percent to reach an all-time high of $347.89. Buoyed by its investments in artificial intelligence breakout OpenAI, Microsoft’s shares are up 45 percent so far this year. Every sector gained, with technology, up 1.3 percent, one of the day’s best performers.