Global Stock Market This Week
The major global stock market indexes ended mixed this week. The global markets witnessed a rally in Tech shares ahead of US AI Chipmaker Nvidia’s quarterly results. The markets remain cautious in the last two sessions ahead of the Fed’s Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole symposium. The key indexes in the US and Asian markets ended mixed, while the European index closed marginally higher during the week.
The US Stock Markets – Weekly Updates
The US stock market indexes closed mixed. Dow Jones ended lower, while S&P500 and Nasdaq gained during the week. Growth stocks outperformed the value shares, as the AI chip maker Nvidia reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results. Financial stocks fell sharply in the early week, as S&P Global downgraded five regional banks.
Dow Jones was dragged as quarterly earnings from the retailers were not up to the mark. The share price of Macy’s, Nordstrom, Dollar Tree, and Dick’s Sporting Goods fell sharply after the quarterly earnings reported during the week.
The data released on Friday showed that consumer sentiment fell in July according to the survey done by Michigan University due to higher inflation expectations after the recent increase in gas prices. The Job market was strong, as the data showed that Americans filing for jobless claims was below expectation.
The S&P Global Manufacturing PMI flash data fell more than expected in August. Meanwhile, housing sale was robust in July, reaching their highest level since early 2022.
On Friday, the US markets were volatile after Fed Chair Powell’s speech but ended higher. Powell hinted more rate hikes could come, as inflation is too high. He further cautioned that past rate hikes had yet to fully slow down the economy but would “proceed carefully” on any further rate hikes.
The yields on 10-year Treasury notes ended at 4.234% on Friday after hitting its highest intraday level of 4.366% since late 2007 on Tuesday,
European Stock Market Indexes- Weekly Updates
European stock markets closed marginally higher during the week as the natural gas prices dropped and on the hope that interest rates may soon peak. The major European indexes, CAC, DAX, and FTSE, closed higher during this week.
On the economi front, the eurozone Manufacturing activity flash data showed a slight improvement from July but still at a contraction level. Meanwhile, the PMI reading for the services sector dipped below 50 in August. The UK’s PMI Composite flash data fell to 47.9 from 50.8 in July, the first contraction since January, due to a shrink in new orders.
The latest data released on Friday showed that the second estimation of the second quarter GDP growth of Germany is likely to be stagnant. The GDP declined by 0.1% and 0.4% in the first quarter of 2023 and the fourth quarter of 2022, respectively.
Asian Stock Markets Updates
The Asian stock market indexes ended mixed during the week. Investors remain cautious ahead of Fed Chair Powell’s speech on Friday but the downside was limited due to an initial rally in tech shares. The market sentiments in China and Hong Kong were weak due to the slowdown in China Indian stock market indexes ended the week slightly lower and extended losses for the fifth consecutive week. You can read about the Indian stock market updates here.
Japan Stock Market
Japan’s Nikkei index closed higher following the previous week’s decline, Nikkei gained four out of five trading sessions during the week and trimmed some of its gain on the last trading session, as traders booked profit ahead of US Fed Chair Powell’s speech.
The strong economic data also supported the markets during the week, as Flash composite PMI data, the combination of both manufacturing and services sector activity, rose to 52.6 in August, up from 52.2 in July. Tokyo Consumer Price Index eased to 2.9% YoY in August, the expectation was 3.0%.
On Friday, however, Nikkei declined over 2% on renewed concerns about China’s slowdown, while trade relations also impacted badly after Japan’s decision to dump contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean.
Chinese Stock Market
Chinese stock market fell during the week, as investors were disappointed with the Central Bank’s decision to keep the 5-year LPR unchanged. Investors become more pessimistic about the country’s economic outlook after a slew of disappointing economic data released in the past few weeks.
The signs of deflation, record high youth unemployment rate, and continued liquidity problems in the ailing property sector have contributed to an erosion of investor’s confidence in China’s economy
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index rose slightly during the week, the index entered a bear market last Friday and is at its lowest level since November
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