Good Quarterly Results Boost Global Stocks

Highlights:

• • USA
    The Dow Jones advanced by 0.56% or 198.70 points, standing at 35,457.31. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 gained 0.74% or 33.17 units, to 4,519.63. At the same time, the Nasdaq added 0.71% or 107.28 points, to 15,129.09.
  • ASIA
    The Nikkei ended with an advance of 0.14% or 40.03 points, to 29,255.55.
    The Kospi settled with a drop of 0.53% or 15.91 points to 3013.13 points.
    The Hang Seng gained 1.35% or 348.81 points to 26,136.02.
  • EUROPE
    The EuroStoxx 50 index was trading with a rise of 0.08%, the FTSEurofirst 300 added 0.15%, and the Stoxx 600 increased by 0.16%. 

Earnings results boosted Wall Street

Wall Street closed in green this Tuesday, encouraged by good quarterly results. The Dow Jones advanced by 0.56% or 198.70 points, standing at 35,457.31. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 gained 0.74% or 33.17 units, to 4,519.63. At the same time, the Nasdaq added 0.71% or 107.28 points, to 15,129.09.

Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble registered better than expected results. Meanwhile, U.S. banks showed good performance last week in their quarterly note. All this data boosted Wall Street, easing fears about the Covid-19 impact and supply problems. 

Johnson & Johnson climbed by 3.1%.  

Nine of the 11 primary S&P 500 sector indexes were trading higher. Healthcare equities were taking the lead, while technology shares posted the biggest boost. 

The market was expecting the results for Netflix and United Airlines. Investors will react to them today. 

By sectors, the health companies advanced by 1.31%. Public services increased by 1.26%, and the energy sector added 1.14%. Meanwhile, non-essential goods fell by 0.29%. 

Among the 30 companies listed on the Dow Jones, MSD advanced the most, surging by 3.03%. Walmart gained a significant 2.12%. 

As for the losses, Procter & Gamble was the most affected, slipping by 1.18%. At the same time, Nike shed 1.01%. 

The Nikkei followed the Wall Street rise

The good financial results of the U.S. companies encouraged the Tokyo stock market, and it opened with a rise. Meanwhile, Japanese companies will release their results in the coming days, and the prospect of the figures is positive.

The Nikkei ended with an advance of 0.14% or 40.03 points, to 29,255.55. Meanwhile, the Topix index finished with an increase of 0.05% or 1.10 points to 2,027.67. The devaluation of the yen against other currencies favoured large Japanese exporters today. 

The tech giant Softbank advanced by 4.4%. Meanwhile, Toyota motor added a slight 0.07%. Sony settled with a rise of 0.66%, and the textile multinational Fast Retailing increased by 0.62%.

As for the losses, the shipping company Nippon Yusen slumped by 3.7%, and the video game company Nintendo yielded 3.91%. 

The sectors that registered the highest rises were air, road transport and insurance.

In the first section, 790 stocks advanced, and 1,280 fell. Meanwhile, 114 ended unchanged. 

The Kospi slipped by 0.53%

South Korean stocks opened at high prices on Wednesday, but they were affected by the Chinese economy. The signs of a slowdown in growth momentum have led to heavy selling pressure on mining stocks dominated by steel. As a result, the market reversed and closed in the negative territory. The Kospi settled with a drop of 0.53% or 15.91 points to 3013.13 points. 

The day was also marked by the rise in the won against the dollar and good data of Covid-19 infections in South Korea. These positive factors prevented more setbacks and led to mixed closings.

Only four of the nineteen major stocks rose, where food and beverage stocks were the biggest winners, adding 0.33%. Steel stocks fell the worst by 3.25%, and South Korea’s steel company Pohang closed with a loss of 3.28%. 

Tech giant Samsung Electronics dropped by 0.42%, while the world’s second-largest memory chipmaker S.K. Hynix expanded by 0.2%.

Naver closed flat, and Kakao gained 0.39%.

In the pharmaceutical sector, Samsung Biologics enjoyed a rise of 0.81%, and its rival Celltrion improved by 0.46%.

For its part, Hyundai Motor, the largest South Korean vehicle manufacturer, closed flat. 

Alibaba led the recovery of the Hang Seng

The Hang Seng gained 1.35% or 348.81 points to 26,136.02. Meanwhile,  the Hang Seng China Enterprises rose by 1.54%. E-commerce giant Alibaba was a major beneficiary of the session.

After a critical speech with Beijing, Jack Ma, Alibaba’s funder, travelled for the first time in more than a year after almost disappearing from the public. Investors interpreted this as a positive sign, hoping that Beijing would soften its campaign to regulate the technology sector.

Jackson Wong, asset management director at Amber Hill Capital Ltd, stated that acquiring more tech stocks is time. He mentioned that the worst of Beijing’s crackdowns are behind us. 

All the sub-indices closed in the positive territory. Services added 0.19%, Finance increased by 0.58%, Real Estate gained 0.74%, and Commerce and Industry climbed by 2%. 

There was only one company that exceeded Alibaba’s surge of 6.68%. And it was its health services subsidiary, Ali Health, which soared by 13.49%.

Other giants in the digital sector also had a good day. Tencent added 2.1%, and Meituan grew by 2.87%.

In real estate, C.G. Services posted the most notable advance of 5%. Meanwhile, HKEX rallied the most in the financial area, adding 1.66%.

Among the Chinese state companies, telephone operators had a better session than oil companies. China Unicom expanded by 0.49%. Meanwhile, Cnooc slid by 2.27%.

The business volume of the session amounted to 156,590 million Hong Kong dollars. 

Hesitant beginning in Europe, Nestle shines

European stocks are trading flat on Wednesday.  Nestlé gained 3.74% after raising its organic growth forecast. It boosted food company equities. 

The EuroStoxx 50 index was trading with a rise of 0.08%, the FTSEurofirst 300 added 0.15%, and the Stoxx 600 increased by 0.16%. 

As the third-quarter earnings season arrived, investors were worried about the impact of higher costs stemming from supply-chain problems and labour shortfalls. Moreover, this is happening when central banks globally are planning to withdraw their stimulus measures. 

In this scenario, bond yields keep increasing, signalling that central banks’ support will decrease. 

The most significant drop on the Stoxx 600 was Kering, plunging by 4.3%.  ASML Holdings fell by 1.3% after its fourth-quarter sales forecast turned out to be worse than analysts’ expectations. 

Vinci gained 2.44% after its quarterly turnover was higher than the corresponding quarter of 2019, before the coronavirus crisis.

Investors will watch the final eurozone consumer price figures in September. In the United Kingdom, inflation posted an unexpected slowdown to 3.1% over one year in September.