Asian indices had a mixed day as Tokyo and Shanghai exchanges continued their forward run registering a bright start to the year, while the Hong Kong market dropped a bit but still managed to register a great first week. The European market also is on the way to ending the first week of the year on a bright note.
Indices continued their downward spiral on Friday as Sensex closes 450 pts lower and Nifty 130 pts
Indian indices shed for the third day in a row to end the first week of 2023 on a negative note. Investors remained nervous ahead of the earnings season after recent warnings by some major companies.
Sensex slipped below 60,000 to close at 59,900. Sensex went below 59,700 intraday but recovered some losses. Nifty also slipped by 132 points to close at 17,859.
IT indices remained under pressure due to global negative cues and shed 2% in today’s trading. Media and Bank also ended with significant losses. FMCG, Energy and Consumer Durable closed flat with all other indices ending lower than yesterday’s close.
JSW Steel, TCS, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finserv and Tech Mahindra dropped more than 2% and featured prominently among laggards. Reliance and Britannia gained around a per cent in today’s trading.
Japan’s Nikkei share average reversed early losses to end higher on Friday as investors bought back beaten-down stocks with the yen weakening against the dollar. The Nikkei rose 0.59% after opening lower following Wall Street’s weak finish overnight. The index lost 0.46% for the holiday-shortened week.
China stocks logged a five-day winning streak on Friday on investors’ expectations that the economy would soon emerge from its COVID woes and stage a robust recovery in 2023.
China’s blue-chip CSI 300 Index closed up 0.3%, while the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.1%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 0.3%. For the week, the CSI 300 Index gained 2.8%, while the Hang Seng benchmark advanced 6.1% to touch a six-month high.
European shares inched higher on Friday and were set for their best week in eight on a drop in natural gas futures and upbeat economic data, while investors awaited euro zone inflation figures. The pan-European STOXX 600 was trading higher in the morning session and was up 3.4% for the week so far.
Meanwhile, German factory orders fell in November, a reminder that the country’s manufacturers are still struggling — even as the economic backdrop improves.