Asian Shares Mostly Higher In Thin Holiday Trade

RTTNews | 973 days ago

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks ended mostly higher in thin trade Monday, with markets in mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Seoul closed for Lunar New Year celebrations. Chinese markets won't resume trading until Jan. 30.

Japanese shares rallied as the yen retreated from last week's 7 1/2-month high and minutes of the Bank of Japan's December policy meeting showed that board members wanted to modify their yield control curve in order to improve market functionality. The Nikkei average jumped 1.33 percent to 26,906.04, with chip-related stocks leading gains. The broader Topix index ended 0.96 percent higher at 1,945.38.

Australian markets finished marginally higher as miners snapped a two-day winning streak, offsetting gains in the tech sector.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed up 5.10 points at 7,457.30, extending gains for the fourth day running and hitting its highest level since April 22 last year.

The broader All Ordinaries index finished higher by 7.90 points at 7,674.20. Tech heavyweight Block Inc surged 6.1 percent.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand shares ended slightly lower as the Labor Party caucus selected Chris Hipkins to succeed Jacinda Ardern as the country's next prime minister.

Hipkins has stated he would switch focus from COVID-19 to bolstering the economy as recession looms after a series of sharp interest rate hikes.

The benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index settled 0.24 percent lower at 11,948.72 ahead of the latest inflation figures due in the middle of the week.

Serko soared 8.7 percent after the business travel software maker upgraded its revenue guidance for the FY23 year.

Indian shares were off their day's highs, with the Sensex trading up 0.4 percent at 60,864.

Oil and gold prices were slightly lower in Asian trading as the dollar struggled to recover ahead of more corporate earnings and economic data due this week.

U.S. stocks rose sharply on Friday, as streaming giant Netflix reported stronger than expected subscriber growth, Google parent Alphabet revealed a plan to cut 12,000 jobs globally and Fed officials Patrick Harker and Christopher Waller said they favor a 25-basis-point rate hike at the next meeting.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.7 percent and the S&P 500 added 1.9 percent to mark its first gain in four days while the Dow gained 1 percent.

European stocks closed modestly higher on Friday amid optimism about Chinese economic growth and signs of cooling inflation.

KOSPI May Extend Its Gains On Tuesday

The South Korea stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the 11-day winning streak in which it had surged more than 300 points or 9.6 percent. Now at a fresh record closing high, the KOSPI sits just beneath the 3,470-point plateau and it may tick higher again on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets continued to be mildly positive on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference. The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the automobile producers and mixed performances from the financial shares, chemicals and technology stocks. For the day, the index added 23.41 points or 0.68 percent to finish at 3,468.65 after trading between 3,458.87 and 3,482.25. Volume was 280.84 million shares worth 11.84 trillion won. There were 545 decliners and 332 gainers. Among the actives, Shinhan Financial fell 0.43 percent, while KB Financial collected 0.34 percent, Hana Financial dipped 0.33 percent, Samsung Electronics surged 4.77 percent, Samsung SDI rallied 2.82 percent, LG Electronics improved 0.76 percent, SK Hynix shed 0.57 percent, Naver sank 0.85 percent, LG Chem jumped 1.69 percent, Lotte Chemical lost 0.76 percent, SK Innovation perked 0.19 percent, POSCO Holdings dropped 0.88 percent, SK Telecom slumped 0.72 percent, KEPCO advanced 0.98 percent, Hyundai Mobis strengthened 1.46 percent, Hyundai Motor accelerated 1.87 percent and Kia Motors rose 0.30 percent.

RTTNews | 19 minutes ago

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Singapore Inflation Data Due On Tuesday

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Swiss Market Settles Marginally Up

The Switzerland market ended marginally up on Monday, despite struggling a bit early on in the session, and then for a few minutes in the final hour.

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RTTNews | 5h 52min ago

TSX Hits New High, Up Nearly 0.5%; Materials Stocks Rally Again

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Bay Street Looks Headed For Positive Start

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EURUSD	1.1802	GBPUSD	1.35159	AUDUSD	0.65994
USDJPY	147.703	USDCAD	1.38242	USDCHF	0.79224