Hong Kong stocks finish with another loss
Hong Kong stocks ended a dire week with another loss on Friday as worries over China’s economic outlook overshadowed a tech-fuelled rally in New York and across most of Asia.
The Hang Seng Index retreated 0.54 percent, or 83.10 points, to 15,308.69.
The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.47 percent, or 13.50 points, at 2,832.28, and the Shenzhen Composite Index on China’s second exchange sank 0.93 percent, or 15.88 points, to 1,686.58.
Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul to buy 32.6pc stake
Stock Exchange owner and operator Saudi Tadawul Group (1111.SE), opens new tab will buy a 32.6 percent stake in the parent company of Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) and become the Emirati trading platform’s joint largest shareholder, it said on Thursday.
Founded in 2007, DME lists the Oman crude oil futures contract, which is a physically settled contract serving as a Middle East benchmark used by the region’s national oil companies as part of their export pricing formulas.
Tadawul will acquire a mix of new and existing shares in DME Holdings for $28.5 million in return for its 32.6 percent stake, with an option to increase the shareholding.
Under the deal, the Saudi stock exchange owner will become the joint largest shareholder alongside CME Group, “with other shareholders including the Oman Investment Authority and Dubai Holding as well as global financial and commercial industry leaders”, it said.
Tadawul said that “no Saudi Arabian crude oil contract will be traded, sold or bought on, or indexed to, nor will Saudi crude be delivered against” DME’s Oman contract to avoid conflict of interest.
London stocks extend rebound
London’s Blue-Chip share index rose on Friday as the sterling came under pressure from much weaker-than-expected retail sales data that further swayed expectations around when the Bank of England would start cutting interest rates.
The FTSE 100 climbed 0.7 percent by 0809 GMT, extending its recovery for a second day but still on course for a weekly loss. Data showed British retailers suffered the biggest drop in sales in almost three years during December, raising the risk that the economy entered a recession in the fourth quarter.
The Sterling dipped 0.2 percent after the data, in turn helping dollar earners such as Shell and AstraZeneca, which draw a large part of their revenue overseas.
European stocks advance at open
Europe’s Stock Markets rose Friday following an overnight Wall Street rally and after a largely upbeat performance in Asia.
London’s FTSE 100 index gaining 0.8 percent to 7,519.44 points despite news of tumbling UK retail sales.
In the eurozone, the Paris CAC 40 added 0.5 percent to 7,441.33 points and Frankfurt’s DAX gained 0.4 percent to 16,632.63.
Australian shares snap 5-day losing streak
Australian Shares snapped a five-day losing streak to rebound on Friday, supported by miners and financials, as traders assessed a recovery in commodities and global markets.
The S&P/ASX 200 index was up 1.2 percent at 7,422.10 points, as of 0010 GMT.
The Benchmark index has dropped nearly 1 percent so far this week.
US Shares ended near their record highs on Thursday, pushing global markets higher. On the domestic bourse, Australian heavyweight miners recovered after ending four sessions in the red.
The Sub-Index tracked iron ore prices higher, paring its weekly losses to 3.8 percent.
Mining Behemoths BHP Group and Rio Tinto gained 1.2 percent and 0.8 percent respectively, whereas Fortescue added 1.6 percent.
Japanese chip shares’ rally puts Nikkei on track
Japan’s Nikkei share average climbed more than 1 percent on Friday, lifted by chip-industry stocks, with the benchmark index headed for a second straight weekly advance.
The Nikkei was up 1.6 percent at 36,034.71, as of 0204 GMT, climbing 1.28 percent for the week. Earlier in the session, the index rose as high as 36,076.23, closing in on Wednesday’s 34-year peak at 36,239.22.
The Broader Topix added nearly 1 percent to 2,516.50, on track for a 0.9 percent weekly gain.
Technical indicators continue to point to the Nikkei’s 7.7 percent surge so far in 2024, the best among major indexes, as ‘overheated’, even after declines in the previous two trading sessions.
One common gauge called the relative strength index, or RSI, stands at about 73, above the 70 threshold that signals an overbought market.
India’s Nifty 50 set to open higher
India’s Benchmark Nifty 50 index is set to open higher on Friday, after a three-day losing streak, tracking Asian peers after data bolstered bets of a soft landing for the US economy.
India’s GIFT Nifty was trading at 21,588.50 as of 8:24 a.m. IST, suggesting the NSE Nifty 50 will open above its Thursday closing of 21,462.25.
Both the Nifty 50 and the Sensex have dropped about 3 percent from Tuesday’s record highs, as a slide in top private lender HDFC Bank’s shares on weak December-quarter margins and rising doubts over early US rate cuts weighed.
So far this week, the blue-chip indexes have lost nearly 2 percent each.
Asian shares bounce on global tech rally
Asian Shares bounced on Friday, buoyed by a rally in regional chipmakers, while the yen was set to end the week with heavy losses as investors pared back bets the Bank of Japan would soon abandon its uber-easy policies.
Oil Prices were on edge amid worries about increasing geopolitical risks in the Middle East.
The US launched new strikes against Houthi anti-ship missiles aimed at the Red Sea on Thursday, and Pakistan conducted strikes inside Iran, two days after Iranian strikes inside Pakistani territory.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rallied 0.9 percent on Friday, but was still down 2.9 percent for the week, the biggest weekly loss since mid-August.