53 minutes ago
Investors welcome “new paradigm,” says Vital Knowledge
According to Vital Knowledge's Adam Crisafulli, this week marked a big change for the stock market that could push share prices even higher.
“Stocks in general are extending gains as investors embrace the new paradigm in which monetary policy around the world is finally turning around after one of the most synchronized and aggressive tightening campaigns in history,” Crisafulli wrote.
“Stocks may be overbought in the near term, but policy developments will provide strong tailwinds in the coming quarters,” he added.
—Fred Imbert
4 hours ago
A cautiously positive opening in Europe
European markets rose slightly on Friday, on track to cap off a positive week after a flurry of key policy decisions from major central banks.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose 0.3% in early trading, with mining stocks leading the way with a gain of 1.4%, while chemical stocks fell 0.9%.
The European blue-chip index closed trading up 0.9% on Thursday, having earlier hit its highest level since January 2022.
-Elliot Smith
9 hours ago
China reports fastest industrial expansion in nearly two years; Retail sales growth falls short of estimates
China reported that industrial production grew in November at the fastest pace since February last year, but retail sales growth fell short of expectations – a sign that the world's second-largest economy is still in a patchy recovery.
Industrial production rose 6.6% in November from a year earlier, according to the National Bureau of Statistics on Friday. That beat expectations in a Portal poll of 5.6% and follows a 4.6% rise in October.
Retail sales rose 10.1% in November from a year earlier, the fastest pace of growth since May. Analysts had expected a rise of 12.5% after a low in 2022. Retail sales rose 7.6% in October.
Fixed investment in urban areas increased cumulatively by 2.9% in the first 11 months of the year, against expectations for growth of 3%. China's urban unemployment rate remained at 5% in November.
For more, please read the full story.
– Clement Tan
8 hours ago
Hong Kong stocks are up over 3%, leading gains in Asia
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 3.19% on Friday, topping major Asian benchmarks, even as China's November economic data showed an uneven recovery.
Materials stocks led the rise, but the biggest gainer in the index was e-commerce company JD.com, whose shares rose nearly 10%.
Other names on the list of top winners include real estate developer Longfor Group, Xinyi Solar Holdings, the world's largest solar cover glass manufacturer, and hotpot chain Haidilao.
11 hours ago
Japan's factory activity shrank for the seventh consecutive day in December
Japan's manufacturing activity contracted for the seventh straight month in December, according to a private survey.
A preliminary reading of the au Jibun Bank Japan manufacturing purchasing managers' index fell to 47.7 in December from 48.3 in November, signaling the fastest deterioration in manufacturing conditions in a decade.
A reading below 50 indicates a contraction.
However, au Jibun Bank's flash services PMI was 52.0 in December compared to 50.8 in November, the fastest increase in the three months.
According to the survey, growth in the services sector remained weaker than the average for the whole of 2023. Total new business grew slightly faster but moderately in December, despite a slight decline in new export sales.
—Shreyashi Sanyal
10 hours ago
China is increasing liquidity injections and maintaining interest rates on short- and medium-term loans
China's central bank said it conducted a 50 billion yuan ($7.06 billion) reverse repurchase operation and provided 1.45 trillion yuan in medium-term loans to “provide adequate and sufficient liquidity in the banking system to be maintained”.
The interest rate on the medium-term facility loans was maintained at 2.5%, while the interest rate on the seven-day reverse buybacks was also maintained at 1.8%.
Portal reported that 650 billion yuan worth of MLF loans are expiring this month, meaning the operation will result in a net infusion of 800 billion yuan of new funds into the banking system.
–Lim Hui Jie
13 hours ago
Investor pessimism has not been this low since 2017, the weekly AAII survey shows
Fewer investors are pessimistic about the outlook for stocks over the next six months than at any time since 2017, according to the latest weekly survey from the American Association of Individual Investors.
The proportion of bearish investors fell to just 19.3% last week, compared to 27.4% last week and a historical average of 31.0%.
Bullish investors rose to 51.3%, the highest since mid-July and up from 47.3% last week and a historical average of 37.5%. “Optimism is now unusually high,” AAII said, noting that the uptrend is above its historical average for the sixth straight week and the seventh week in 10.
These sentiment levels are bad news for contrarian investors, who may interpret them to mean that the stock market is overbought and that investors are more comfortable buying than selling.
– Scott Schnipper
13 hours ago
Stocks make the biggest moves after hours
Here are the biggest moves after hours:
- Scholastic – Shares fell 11% after Scholastic reported second-quarter revenue that fell from the same period last year. Sales amounted to $562.6 million, around 4% below the previous year's figure of $587.9 million.
- Quanex Building Products – Shares fell nearly 7% after Quanex reported fourth-quarter adjusted profit of 95 cents per share, beating the FactSet consensus estimate of 70 cents per share. Revenue was $295.5 million, higher than the $291.0 million estimate of analysts surveyed by FactSet.
—Sarah Min
13 hours ago
Stock futures open lower on Thursday
Stock futures open lower on Thursday evening.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 33 points, or 0.09%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.13% and 0.08%, respectively.
—Sarah Min