Sydney Opera House, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Gallo Images | Brand X Images | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets opened higher on Friday, breaking Wall Street’s first trading day of 2025 that ended lower as technology stocks weighed on the market.
The People’s Bank of China reportedly plans to cut interest rates “at an appropriate time” this year British “Financial Times” report Quoting comments from the central bank. The country’s 7-day reverse repo rate Currently set at 1.5%.
Separately, China’s Ministry of Commerce plans to impose export restrictions on certain technologies used to make battery components and process key minerals such as lithium and gallium, according to a report. Notice issued on Thursday.
Asian investors will continue to assess political uncertainty in South Korea as the country’s corruption watchdog seeks to execute an arrest warrant against impeached President Yoon Seok-yeol, According to local media Yonhap News Agency. Yin’s brief attempt at martial law on December 3 caused political turmoil in the country.
The three major U.S. stock indexes closed lower on the first trading day of the new year, continuing their weak trend at the end of 2024, indicating that the market may not see a “Santa Claus rebound” this year.
Investors are looking forward to a “Santa Claus rally” that spans the last five trading days of the year and the first two trading days of January. Dow Jones market data dating back to 1950 shows that during that time, the S&P 500 has gained an average of 1.3%, while closing higher nearly 80% of the time.
Overnight stateside, blue chip stocks Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 151.95 points, or 0.36%, to close at 42,392.27 points, while S&P 500 Index Down 0.22% to 5,868.55 and dominated by technology stocks Nasdaq Index It fell 0.16% to 19,280.79.
That marked the fifth consecutive session of losses for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, their longest losing streak since April. Big tech stocks weighed on the market, with Apple falling 2.6% and Tesla falling 6% on lower annual deliveries.
—CNBC’s Jesse Pond and Christina Cheddar Burke contributed to this report.
About The Author
