Renewed selling pressure predicted for Taiwan stock market
The Taiwan stock market has finished higher in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had stumbled more than 150 points or 1.1 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 12,690-point plateau although it figures to head south again on Friday.
The TSE finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares and a mixed picture from the technology stocks.
For the day, the index gained 83.17 points or 0.66 percent to finish at 12,691.75 after trading between 12,650.40 and 12,708.64.
Among the actives, Cathay Financial gained 0.76 percent, while CTBC Financial collected 0.53 percent, Fubon Financial spiked 1.89 percent, E Sun Financial rose 0.38 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company jumped 1.87 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation tumbled 1.48 percent, Hon Hai Precision advanced 0.77 percent, Largan Precision eased 0.14 percent, Catcher Technology retreated 1.60 percent, MediaTek added 0.67 percent, Formosa Plastic sank 0.63 percent, Taiwan Cement dipped 0.24 percent and Asia Cement, Mega Financial and First Financial were unchanged.
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European shares up despite Brexit worries
European shares ended a choppy trading session higher on Friday, as investors weighed signs of a pick up in M&A activity against the economic threat from growing prospects of a no-deal Brexit.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.1% and ended the week about 1.8% higher. The index has been in a holding pattern since June as economic growth lost momentum due to a stronger euro, increasing the cost of European exports.
Meanwhile, the EU is ramping up preparations for a tumultuous end to the four-year Brexit saga as top officials prepared to brief its 27 members on British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plan to break the divorce treaty.
Most of the major sector indexes were lower, a day after the ECB held interest rates steady and said it was closely watching the euro.
M&A activity took centre stage, with Altice Europe’s shares soaring 24.4% to a three-month high and on top of the STOXX 600 after it agreed to be bought by its founder Patrick Drahi.
Swiss frozen baked goods maker Aryzta jumped 12.5% after it said it was in advanced talks with private equity firm Elliott Advisors over a takeover deal.
The pan-European Euronext exchange edged 1.7% higher. France’s CAC 40 index saw some changes to its components.
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London’s FTSE ends higher
London’s FTSE 100 ended Friday higher on gains in mining heavyweight Rio Tinto, and marked its best week in more than three months as a weaker pound benefited the exporter-heavy index.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 closed the day 0.5% higher and added 4% for the week, breaking a three-week losing streak. Insurer Aviva was the best performing blue-chip for the week after it said it will sell its Singapore business for S$2.7 billion ($1.98 billion).
The mid-cap FTSE 250 shed 0.1% and lagged its bluechip peers for the week as a spike in COVID-19 cases spurred new curbs on social activity, hurting domestically-inclined consumer stocks.
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Nikkei 225 high dividend yield index to replace component stocks
Nikkei announced on Friday changes to the component stocks of the Nikkei 225 High Dividend Yield Stock 50 Index after its periodic review. Starting Sept. 25, Komatsu, Honda Motor, Subaru, Yamaha Motor and Marubeni will be replaced by Nisshinbo Holdings, Konica Minolta, AGC, Seiko Epson, Concordia Financial Group, Sompo Holdings, T&D Holdings, Nippon Telegraph & Telephone and Kansai Electric Power.
The index decreased to 46 companies as four stocks — including Nissan Motor — were dropped since the last reshuffle in June 2019. But the number of companies will return to 50 after the change. A periodic review is usually conducted at the end of June but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Stocks were selected based on expected dividend yields at the end of August, when the index’s expected dividend yield following the adjustment stood at 4.75 percent.
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India Sensex rises over 100 points, Nifty firm above 11,450
Domestic stock markets started Friday’s session on a lacklustre note as global equities took a breather, amid dimming hopes about a quick economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
The S&P BSE Sensex index rose 138.2 points – or 0.36 percent – to 38,978.52 at the strongest level recorded in the first few minutes of trade, having opened marginally up for the day at 38,866.19. The broader NSE Nifty 50 benchmark climbed to as high as 11,493.50, up 44.25 points – or 0.39 percent – from its previous close. At 9:28 am, the Sensex traded 113.65 points – or 0.29 percent – higher at 38,953.97, while the Nifty was up 37.45 points – or 0.33 percent – at 11,486.70.
Top percentage gainers in the Nifty basket of 50 shares were Bharti Infratel, Titan, Britannia, HDFC Life and Maruti Suzuki, trading between 1.10 percent and 3.63 percent higher. HCL Tech, IndusInd Bank, Nestle, Eicher Mtoors and Larsen & Toubro, trading between 0.65 percent and 1.20 percent lower, were the top laggards in the index. Maruti Suzuki and Titan were the top boosts to Sensex, whereas Infosys and Axis Bank were the biggest drags.
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Wall Street posts second straight weekly drop on tech slide
The Nasdaq slid and the S&P 500 closed little changed on Friday as early gains in technology and growth names faded, with each of the three major Wall Street averages posting their second straight weekly decline.
After hitting a record high of $61.86, shares of Oracle Corp turned lower along with the rest of the technology sector, which closed down 0.75%. The tech sector posted its fifth decline in six days and biggest weekly percentage decline since March as investors sold companies such as Apple Inc that have spearheaded the dramatic rally from coronavirus-driven lows in March. Apple shares slid 1.31%.
Growth stocks, which include many tech names along with others that have benefited from government-imposed lockdowns such as Amazon.com Inc, fell 0.26% while value names edged up 0.54%. Amazon fell 1.86%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 131.06 points, or 0.48%, to 27,665.64. The S&P 500 gained 1.78 points, or 0.05%, to 3,340.97 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 66.05 points, or 0.6%, to 10,853.55.
For the week, the Dow fell 1.66%, the S&P lost 2.51% and the Nasdaq dropped 4.06%.
Volume on US exchanges was 8.91 billion shares. Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.05-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.41-to-1 ratio favored decliners. The S&P 500 posted 5 new 52-week highs and 1 new low; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 25 new highs and 37 new lows.