Market Update

Japanese stocks closed lower Friday, April 30, weighed by disappointing expectations for technology companies, while the rise in the frequency of Covid-19 infections in the country affected investor sentiment. The Nikkei index fell by 0.83% to close at 28812.63 points, while the broader Topix index fell 0.57% to 1898.24 points. …

A report by Goldman Sachs expected that the British economy would record a faster growth pace than its US counterpart, with the acceleration of the distribution of anti-virus vaccines in the United Kingdom. The British government succeeded in delivering the vaccine to nearly half of the UK population, who received …

Twitter shares plunged more than 10% in post-close trading Thursday April 29, after the company released its first-quarter earnings, beating user growth expectations and providing less revenue guidance for the second quarter than expected. The company achieved an adjusted profit of 16 cents per share, compared to expectations of 14 …

Amazon shares rose as much as 3% in post-close trade Thursday April 29th, after the company released its first-quarter earnings, beating Wall Street’s earnings and revenue expectations. The company made profits of $15.79 per share, compared to expectations of $9.54 per share, and revenues of $108.52 billion compared to expectations …

There were 553,000 initial claims for unemployment benefits in the US during the week ending April 24, the data published by the US Department of Labor (DOL) showed on Thursday. This reading came in slightly worse than the market expectation of 549,000 but showed an improvement from the previous record …

European stocks closed lower Thursday, April 29th, despite banks’ highs in 14 months thanks to strong quarterly earnings, as rising Eurozone bond yields prompted some investors to sell for profit after reaching near-record levels. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.3% to 438.77 points, far away from its record high …

Caterpillar Inc. announced its first-quarter earnings before the opening Thursday. Earnings per share (EPS) hit $ 2.87, ahead of a consensus of $ 1.94, and revenue came to $ 11.9 billion, beating expectations at 11.09. CAT officials say this is because of higher sale volume, driven by higher-end user demand, …

Standard Chartered posted an 18%, more than expected, increase in first-quarter earnings before tax, as the emerging market-focused bank began recovering from the economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic. Profit before tax in the period from January to March was $1.4 billion, compared with $1.2 billion in the same period …

Gold prices rose Thursday April 29th, as the dollar fell after the US Federal Reserve decided to keep interest rates low for the foreseeable future, despite adopting a brighter view of the economic recovery. And gold rose in immediate trading 0.2% to 1784.26 dollars an ounce. US gold futures rose …

Oil prices extended gains Thursday, April 29, after rising 1% in the previous session, as positive expectations about a recovery in demand this summer overshadowed concerns about the impact of an increase in the frequency of Covid-19 infections in India, Japan, and Brazil. Brent crude for June delivery rose 22 …