Gold drops; pAllAdium hiTs new high
bangkok/mumbai — Shares rose in Europe and Asia on Thursday after a strong overnight finish on Wall Street. Traders were encouraged by a report saying the Chinese government might make changes to its “Made in China 2025” economic development plan.
Germany’s DAX added 0.3 per cent to 10,961.39 and the CAC40 in France climbed 0.3 per cent to 4,923.63. Britain’s FTSE 100 edged 0.2 per cent higher to 6,891.77. The future contract for the S&P 500 was up 0.5 per cent at 2,666.20 while the contract for the Dow climbed 0.4 per cent to 24,762.00, auguring an upbeat start for the day.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index gained 1 per cent to 21,816.19 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng report jumped 1.3 per cent to 26,524.35. The Shanghai Composite index climbed 1.2 per cent to 2,634.05 while the Kospi in South Korea added 0.6 per cent to 2,095.55. India’s Sensex advanced 0.7 per cent to 36,016.89 while the S&P ASX 200 in Australia edged 0.1 per cent higher to 5,661.60. Shares also rose in Taiwan and Southeast Asia.
India’s Sensex gained over 150 points and the Nifty50 ended just short of 10,800 points mark.
Almost all sectoral indices on both markets ended in the green.
The Sensex settled up 150.57 points or 0.42 per cent at 35,929.64 touching an intraday high of 36,095.56 and a low of 35,794.51. The Nifty50 gained 53.95 points or 0.50 per cent to closed at 10,791.55.
The Chinese initiative aims to create leading companies in fields like artificial intelligence, electric cars and robotics. The Trump administration says the government is unfairly subsidising Chinese companies and discriminating against foreign rivals. Along with disputes over China’s handling of intellectual property, it’s a significant contributor to trade tensions.
The reported a revised plan would allow greater access for foreign companies to Chinese markets and investment. British Prime Minister Theresa May won a no-confidence vote that had threatened to end her tenure. Lawmakers within May’s Conservative Party have expressed frustration over her negotiations of Britain’s departure from the European Union, and many of them want a cleaner break from the trading bloc.
Opposition lawmakers don’t want Britain to leave the EU. The lingering uncertainty over Brexit has pushed the British pound sharply lower. It rose to $1.2672 BENGALURU — Gold fell on Thursday as stock markets gained for a third straight day, but the metal held in a tight $6 range ahead of next week’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting when the US central bank is widely expected to raise interest rates.
Spot gold eased 0.3 per cent to $1,241.50 per ounce at 1056GMT, while US gold futures were down 0.3 per cent at $1,245.80 per ounce.
Spot palladium was steady at $1,261.10 per ounce, having touched a record high of $1,269.25 earlier in the session.
Silver was down 0.3 per cent at $14.69 per ounce, while platinum gained 0.1 per cent to $798.90. —
from Wednesday’s $1.2634. “Local equity markets are trading well, catching an updraft via US equity futures as in the absence of any inflammatory rhetoric from the US administration, the perception that trade tensions are easing continues to steer the ship.
But investors are also breathing a sigh of relief that the UK worstcase scenarios didn’t unfold overnight,” Stephen Innes of Oanda said in a commentary.
The dollar rose to ¥113.46 from ¥113.32. The euro rose to $1.1382 from $1.1370. —