Financial Markets (Just2Trade)
Benchmarks see patchy performance
Major stock indices have seen mixed directionality on Wednesday, January 21. US benchmarks finished in the red
yesterday. In the APAC region, Japanese stocks took a beating, Chinese indices logged gains, Hong Kong equities saw red ink,
South Korean stocks moved higher, and Australian securities ended lower. Mixed sentiment prevails across Europe amid Washington’s
push to buy Greenland, as well as statements about potential tariffs on goods from European countries.
US stocks closed
in the red on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipping 1.7% to 48,488.6, the broad-market S&P 500 retreating
2.1% to 6,796.8, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropping 2.3% to 22,954.3. Pressure came from mounting geopolitical and
trade uncertainties after President Trump’s statements about possible new tariffs on goods from European countries that
oppose his initiative to buy Greenland. Trump said Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Germany, the United Kingdom, France and
the Netherlands could face 10% tariffs from February 1, which could rise to 25% from June 1 if no agreements are reached.
On the corporate side, investors took note of a 6.9% plunge in 3M shares. The company reported a 21% decline in
Q4 net profit, although adjusted EPS and revenue topped analyst expectations. Conversely, Netflix gained 1.2% amid media reports
that the streaming services provider upgraded its Warner Bros. offer to all cash.
APAC trading floors
lacked a single trend on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.4%, extending its decline for the fifth straight session.
The underperformers were led by financial stocks, including Mizuho Financial Group (-3.8%), Dai-ichi Life (-3.8%), Sumitomo
Mitsui Monetary Group (-3.3%), and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (-3.3%). Sony gave up 1.4%, Honda and Nissan pulled back
1.3% and 0.9%, respectively. Seven & I Holdings and Fast Retailing slid 3.5% and 1.2%, respectively.
In China, the
Shanghai Composite Index added 0.3%, whereas Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ticked down 0.1%. The leaderboard featured Semiconductor
Manufacturing International Corp. (+3.4%) and Baidu Inc. (+3.2%). In the green were also CNOOC (+2.3%) and PetroChina (+2.2%),
BYD (+1.8%), and Li Auto (+0.5%). The laggards included Anta Sports Products (-5.8%), Li Ning (-3.6%), NetEase Inc. (-4.1%),
Lenovo (-3.3%), Pop Mart International Group (-3%), and Xiaomi (-1.7%).
South Korea’s KOSPI inched
0.1% higher, with support coming from Samsung Electronics (+2.3%), Korea Zinc (+2.1%), and KB Financial Group (+2.3%). Hyundai
Motor soared 12.9%, whereas SK Hynix (-0.9%), Posco (-2.4%), and LG Energy Solution (-2.5%) stood out among the underperformers.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 eased 0.4%, falling for the third straight session. The decliners were
headed up by Cettire (-10.7%) and Telix Pharmaceuticals (-7.7%). Conversely, BHP and Rio Tinto gained 1.5% and 2.6%, respectively.
European trading floors opened on a mixed note today, with the Stoxx Europe 600 shedding 0.1% to 601.8. The UK’s
FTSE 100 was last fractionally down, France’s CAC 40 was a tad higher, and Germany’s DAX was off 0.1%.
Today’s European frontrunners are Louis Vuitton (+1.8%) and Kering (+1.35%), which logged gains on the back
of Paris Fashion Week. BASF (+1.3%) also locked in gains on news the company acquired biological insect control company AgBiTech.
The underperformers include Experian (-2.5%), as the company’s quarterly financial results fell short of investor expectations.
Capgemini gave up 0.7% amid plans to cut up to 2,400 jobs in France.
Source: The
Wall Street Journal
