DOW JONES–At the start of the new week, there was no consistent trend observed on the stock markets in East Asia and Australia. Overall, caution dominated ahead of the US labor market data on Friday, traders reported. However, domestic economic data initially determined the direction in the region’s individual markets.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index fell by 1.5 percent to 39,307 points on the first day of trading after the holiday break at the turn of the year. The expectation that the Bank of Japan will soon raise interest rates is having a negative impact, it was said. Nippon Steel lost 3.9 percent after US President Biden banned the takeover of US Steel on national security grounds. Automotive stocks are being weighed down by the prospect of rising credit costs and declining sales, it said. Toyota fell 4.3 percent, Nissan Motor fell 1 percent and Mitsubishi Motors fell 4.3 percent.
The Chinese stock exchanges were somewhat lighter. The Composite Index fell 0.1 percent in Shanghai and the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was down 0.5 percent in late trading. The fact that the Caixin Purchasing Managers’ Index for the services sector in China, like the government index, moved further into expansionary territory in December, did not give the Chinese stock markets any impetus. It was said that orders from abroad had declined despite this. In addition, uncertainty regarding further economic stimulus from the Chinese government caused investors to act cautiously. The share price of the car manufacturer XPeng rose by 3 percent in Hong Kong. The news that XPeng, together with Volkswagen, wants to build one of the largest fast-charging networks for electric vehicles in China was inspiring.
In Seoul, the Kospi rose 1.9 percent, led by the chip sector. Observers spoke of a countermovement to the heavy losses in response to the domestic political turmoil in South Korea in recent weeks. However, investors were also banking on good news from the CES computer trade show in Las Vegas, which begins this week, according to Hana Securities.
SK Hynix rose 9.8 percent after Microsoft announced it would invest $80 billion to build data centers. The price of index heavyweight Samsung Electronics rose by 2.8 percent.
In Taiwan, the heavily weighted share of the chip company TSMC improved by 4.65 percent. The price of the contract manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry (Foxconn) advanced by 1.9 percent. The company, which plays a major role in building AI servers for technology companies, reported record revenue for its fourth quarter. The Taiwanese benchmark index Taiex closed 2.8 percent higher.
The Australian stock market closed up 0.1 percent. Insignia Financial jumped 14.7 percent after a takeover bid from CC Capital.
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Index (stock market) last +/- % % YTD end
S&P/ASX 200 (Sydney) 8,257.40 +0.1% +1.2% 06:00
Nikkei-225 (Tokyo) 39,307.05 -1.5% 0% 07:00
Kospi (Seoul) 2,488.64 +1.9% +3.7% 07:00
Shanghai Comp. 3,206.92 -0.1% -4.3% 08:00
Hang-Seng (Hongk.) 19,667.08 -0.5% -1.6% 09:00
Straits-Times (Sing.) 3,813.57 +0.3% +0.38% 10:00
KLCI (Malaysia) 1,624.64 -0.3% -0.78% 10:00
FOREX last +/- % 00:00 Fri, 9:02 am % YTD
EUR/USD 1.0312 +0.1% 1.0302 1.0286 -0.4%
EUR/JPY 162.51 +0.3% 162.10 161.66 -0.2%
EUR/GBP 0.8288 -0.1% 0.8296 0.8292 +0.2%
GBP/USD 1.2441 +0.2% 1.2418 1.2406 -0.6%
USD/JPY 157.58 +0.1% 157.35 157.17 +0.2%
USD/KRW 1,467.69 +0.1% 1,466.65 1,470.24 -0.5%
USD/CNY 7.2082 -0.2% 7.2230 7.2115 -0.0%
USD/CNH 7.3564 -0.1% 7.3608 7.3479 +2.0%
USD/HKD 7.7747 -0.1% 7.7787 7.7781 +0.1%
AUD/USD 0.6229 +0.3% 0.6210 0.6215 +0.7%
NZD/USD 0.5623 +0.2% 0.5612 0.5605 +0.5%
Bitcoin
BTC/USD 99,242.90 +0.6% 98,671.20 96,290.90 +4.8%
ROHOEL most recently VT-Settlem. +/-% +/- USD% YTD
WTI/Nymex 73.78 73.96 -0.2% -0.18 +2.9%
Brent/ICE 76.32 76.51 -0.2% -0.19 +2.0%
METALS last day previous +/- % +/- USD % YTD
Gold (spot) 2,631.49 2,640.23 -0.3% -8.74 +0.3%
Silver (spot) 29.60 29.62 -0.1% -0.02 +2.5%
Platinum (spot) 934.53 941.43 -0.7% -6.90 +3.0%
Copper future 4.07 4.07 -0.2% -0.01 +1.0%
YTD based on the closing price of the previous day
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 06, 2025 02:26 ET (07:26 GMT)