Stock market's Nasdaq index soars to fresh all-time peak
In the heart of the trading week, global stock markets danced an intricate dance of gains and losses.
Kicking things off on Thursday, the Dax started close to Monday's record, hovering around 20,450 points. The MDax made some recovery from Tuesday's dip with a gain of 28 points, yet still remained below Monday's level. The SDax saw a steady gain of 35 points. While German stocks meandered, things were far from uneventful across the pond.
The US market was set ablaze by the exuberance of tech stocks following the release of inflation numbers. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 hit a new high, soaring 1.85% to 21,764 points. Big names like Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Netflix, and Tesla all hit record highs. The broad-based S&P 500 index followed suit, rising 0.82% to 6,085 points. The venerable Dow Jones, on the other hand, fared slightly worse, dipping 0.22% to 44,149 points.
Across the Pacific, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index climbed 1.21% to 39,849 points. The yen's weakness, beneficial for Japan's export-oriented economy, played a role in the Nikkei's improvement. Moreover, representatives of the Japanese central bank view the risks of delayed interest rate hikes as relatively low, according to Bloomberg. The tech-heavy South Korean market also continued its recovery.
Chinese markets were in the fold as well. The CSI 300 index of mainland Chinese stocks rose nearly 1% to 4,029 points. The Hang Seng index of Hong Kong's Chinese special administrative region climbed 1.41% to 20,439 points late in the day, with investors eagerly awaiting details from an upcoming government economic policy conference.
Oil prices extended their gains from the previous day on Thursday. A barrel of Brent crude for February delivery last traded at $73.70, up $0.18 from the previous day. The price of a barrel of US crude for January delivery rose $0.09 to $70.38.
All this comes in the wake of positive trade developments, such as the U.S.-U.K. tariff-lowering deal and China's stimulus plans, which boosted investor confidence and reduced recession fears. At the same time, geopolitical tensions in South Asia, like the recent clash between India and Pakistan, caused the Indian stock market to plummet. Market technicals showed a cautious but steady upward trend, with some sectors performing better than others.
- On Monday, the SDax stocks opened close to their record high at around 849 points.
- Despite the positive trend in global stock markets, the SDax industry in Germany experienced a dip on Thursday, with the index moving worse compared to other European markets.
- In contrast to the technology-heavy US market, the performance of the SDax index, which primarily represents German tech and finance stocks, seemed less promising.
- As the trading week progressed, the question of whether the SDax stocks could recover and match the record highs set in the technology sector remained uncertain.