The growing number of COVID-19 cases in multiple countries is again painting a mixed picture for Asian stocks today. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index climbed by about 0.45%, even after its Chief Executive warned for surging numbers of Corona-related infections across the administrative region. Meanwhile, in China, the Shanghai Composite was up by 1.78%, while in Japan the Nikkei 225 index fell by 1.15%.
Among the biggest movers in Asia was Geely Automobile, the owner of Volvo, whose shares were up by 3%. The shares of tech giant Tencent fell by more than 2%. Meanwhile, in Japan, Canon, Konica Minolta and Nissan all dropped by more than 10% each.
Nissan’s beating came after the company recorded a $4.5 billion loss. As widely reported earlier this week, the company risks running out of cash in the coming year if current losses are not halted. Canon shares fell by 13% – reaching a 2-year low – largely due to a sharply declining demand for its products.
DAX index, CAC 40, FTSE 100 and Stoxx 40 mixed
European futures are mixed today as traders respond to earnings releases by multiple regional banking giants. DAX index futures are up by 0.15% while FTSE 100 futures are down by 0.10%. The continental-wide Stoxx 50 index dropped by 0.27% while in Italy, the FTSE MIB, is climbing slightly, by 0.15%.
Today’s biggest movers in Europe will be Deutsche Bank and Barclays as they both reported mixed earnings. Deutsche Bank confirmed it has allocated 761 million euros to credit loss, while it also increases its investment bank provisions. In total, the bank’s revenues climbed to 6.3 billion euros during the second quarter of this year, slightly higher than the 6.2 billion euros during the same period last year. Its common equity tier 1 capital ratio of 13.3% was slightly lower than a year earlier, at 13.4%.
Christian Sewing, the bank’s CEO, explained that “in a challenging environment we grew revenues and continued to reduce costs, and we’re fully on track to meet all our targets.”
Meanwhile, Barclays said that it had a net income of £695 million in the first half of the year. The bank said that its credit loss provisions increased to £1.6 billion.
US dollar falls ahead of Fed meeting
Meanwhile, the US dollar index declined by about 0.15% as investors await today’s FOMC interest rate decision. The decline happened as the greenback dropped by 0.15% against the Swedish krona, 0.30% against the euro, and 0.13% against the Swiss franc. It is also down by 0.10% against the Canadian dollar.
The dollar weakness has renewed interest in commodity prices. Silver prices, which were down a few hours ago, have turned positive and climbed 0.40% higher. Gold, copper, and palladium prices are also up by more than 0.50%.
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US dollar index vs Gold and Silver Price
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