Asian Shares Mixed In Cautious Trade

RTTNews | 1 day ago

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks ended flat to lower on Monday, though Seoul stocks rallied after a court dismissed an appeal by lawyers of Yoon Suk Yeol against an arrest warrant for the impeached president.

Japanese markets led declines due to profit taking following the Nikkei stock index's record year-end close.

Chinese and Hong Kong markets ended on a sluggish note as U.S-China trade tensions loomed, and investors looked for greater clarity on the implementation of stimulus policies.

Oil prices eased from near three-month highs in Asian trade amid concerns over sanctions and a stronger dollar after positive U.S. House Speaker election results.

Gold ticked lower ahead of the release of minutes from the Fed's last meeting due Wednesday and the December payrolls report due on Friday.

China's Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.14 percent to 3,206.92 and the onshore yuan breached a key milestone for the first time since late 2023 amid reports that the People's Bank of China will issue the largest-ever offshore yuan bonds in Hong Kong this month.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 0.36 percent to 19,688.29 after a choppy session as a private sector survey showed China's service activity expanded at a faster clip at the end of 2024.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 1.47 percent to 39,307.05 on the first trading day of 2025. Japanese financial markets were closed from last Tuesday for the New Year holidays.

The broader Topix index settled 1.02 percent lower at 2,756.38 while the yen fell under pressure from higher U.S. Treasury yields.

Earlier in the day, a measure of Japan's service sector activity signaled rising prices and wages, potentially supporting a January BoJ rate hike.

Seoul stocks logged strong gains, with tech stocks climbing after Taiwan-listed Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., the assembly partner to Nvidia Corp. and Apple Inc., posted record revenue for the fourth quarter.

The Kospi average jumped 1.91 percent to 2,488.64. Samsung Electronics rallied 2.8 percent, SK Hynix surged 9.8 percent, Naver jumped 4 percent and LG Energy Solution advanced 1.5 percent.

Australian markets fluctuated before ending marginally higher, led by technology stocks. Miners underperformed after iron ore prices fell below US$100 ($160.73) per ton on Friday.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 finished marginally higher at 13,072.93.

U.S. stocks closed sharply higher on Friday after a shaky start to the new year. Shares of major tech companies surged amid expectations that they would benefit from continued spending on artificial intelligence.

Bond yields eased slightly as new data showed U.S. manufacturing activity contracted at a slower rate in December.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.8 percent and the S&P 500 surged 1.3 percent to snap a five-day losing streak while the Dow added 0.8 percent.

Swiss Market Ends On Strong Note After Inflation Data

The Switzerland market closed on a strong note on Tuesday with stocks shrugging off early weakness and gaining in strength as the day progressed. Data showing a slowdown in consumer price inflation aided sentiment.

RTTNews | 6h 32min ago

European Stocks Close Higher As Markets React To Economic Data

European stocks closed mostly higher on Tuesday despite struggling a bit early on in the session, as investors digested a slew of regional economic data and continued to bet on more monetary easing by central banks in the first quarter of 2025.

RTTNews | 6h 48min ago

U.S. Dollar Climbs After Solid Economic Data

The U.S. dollar advanced against its major counterparts in the New York session on Tuesday, as strong economic data supported expectations of slower rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

RTTNews | 7h 16min ago

Canadian Market Pares Early Gains, Down Slightly At Noon

The Canadian market is down slightly a little past noon on Tuesday after having moved higher early on in the session thanks to gains in energy and materials sectors thanks to firm commodity prices. Trade war concerns, and political uncertainty in Canada following the resignation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau weigh on stocks.

RTTNews | 8h 13min ago

U.S. Job Openings Unexpectedly Increase In November

Job openings in the U.S. unexpectedly increased in the month of November, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Tuesday. The Labor Department said job openings rose to 8.098 million in November from an upwardly revised 7.839 million in October.

RTTNews | 9h 59min ago

NVIDIA Unveils Generative AI Products; Teams Up With Uber, Toyota

AI chipmaker Nvidia Corp. announced major product advancements in the field of generative artificial intelligence, amid significant growth of AI worldwide. The tech major also revealed partnerships with major corporates, including Uber Technologies, Inc., Toyota Motor Corp. and Accenture, at the Consumer Electronics Show or CES 2025 in Las Vegas.

RTTNews | 10h 0min ago

U.S. Services Index Rises More Than Expected In December

The Institute for Supply Management released a report on Tuesday showing its reading on U.S. service sector activity increased by more than expected in the month of December. The ISM said its services PMI climbed to 54.1 in December from 52.1 in November, with a reading above 50 indicating growth. Economists had expected the index to rise to 53.3.

RTTNews | 10h 8min ago

U.S. Trade Deficit Widens In November As Imports Rebound More Than Exports

With imports rebounding by more than exports, the Commerce Department released a report on Tuesday showing the U.S. trade deficit widened roughly in line with economist estimates in the month of November. The Commerce Department the trade deficit increased to $78.2 billion in November from a revised $73.6 billion in October. Economists had expected the trade deficit to climb to $78.0 billion.

RTTNews | 10h 40min ago

EURUSD	1.03472	GBPUSD	1.24803	AUDUSD	0.62305
USDJPY	157.765	USDCAD	1.43585	USDCHF	0.90898