FTSE 100 ends week in red after a strong recovery, Asian markets dip
Asian markets drop in early hours on Monday, with Sensex opening in red
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Your support makes all the difference.London’s FTSE 100 ended on Friday in red, albeit after a strong week reaching its highest post-pandemic levels and FTSE 250 hitting an all-time high, while the US stock markets also continued their record rally.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 ended 26 points or 0.38 per cent down at 6915, while the domestically focused FTSE 250 ended flat with rising 3 points or 0.17 per cent at 22,251, 30 points down from the day’s high in the morning.
The US markets also saw a strong week with the S&P 500 and Dow again closing at record highs after a third straight weekly rise. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 297 points, or 0.89 per cent, to 33,800, the S&P 500 gained 31 points, or 0.77 per cent, to 4,128 and the Nasdaq Composite added 70 points, or 0.51 per cent, to 13,900.
Despite the US’s closing highs, Asian markets had a cautious opening on Monday with most leading indexes dipping further in the early hours. Tokyo’s Nikkei edged up 0.1 per cent but dropped up to 34 points till noon, while South Korean stocks rose 0.2 per cent early in the morning but continued to trade in red.
Hang Seng saw a downward trend since morning dropping around 391 points or 1.3 per cent at noon. However, stocks of Alibaba holding performed well with an increase of over 12 per cent after the Jack Ma-led company announced a $2.8bn (£2bn) fine by Chinese authorities which marked the end of an antitrust investigation into the company.
Shanghai composite also traded in red with a low of 1 per cent, while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was off 0.05 percent in early trade and dropped further before it began recovering again around noon.
With the mixed cues from the Asian markets, Indian stocks also started the week on a negative note dragged by banking and financial stocks. The record increase in Covid-19 cases and fears of lockdown also brought the sentiment down. After opening, the Sensex was down 818 points at 48,773 while the Nifty fell 247 points to 14,590.
On Friday, D-street stocks ended lower with the Sensex ended 154 points, or 0.31 per cent lower at 49,591, while the Nifty fell 38.95 points, or 0.26 per cent, to close at 14,834. Banks, financials, realty and auto sectors were weak.
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