More Stories

Informist, Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025                                      Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

---

Equity Alert: Asian indices recover on Fed Powell's remarks, earnings boost

 

MUMBAI--0809 IST--Indices in Asia rebounded Wednesday after losses in the previous few sessions, as dovish comments from US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and better-than-expected earnings report from several US banks lifted trader sentiments. The ongoing hostilities between the US and China over trade policies, however, hit the risk appetite among market participants. Markets in Hong Kong were higher and the Hang Seng index snapped a seven-day losing streak during which it had lost almost 7%.

 

Powell said Tuesday that the US labour market remained weak through September due to low hiring, but the US economy "may be on a somewhat firmer trajectory than expected." The central bank was nearing a point where it will stop reducing the size of its bond holdings, according to media reports citing Powell. "Our long-stated plan is to stop balance sheet runoff when reserves are somewhat above the level we judge consistent with ample reserve conditions," Powell said at the National Association for Business Economics conference in Philadelphia. While he made no specific comments on the interest rate trajectory going forward, his remarks on weakness in US labour markets indicated that rate cuts are still in the cards. Traders are factoring in a 95% probability of an interest rate cut in the US central bank's policy meeting later in the month, according to the latest CME FedWatch tool.

 

US President Donald Trump Tuesday criticised China for not buying soybeans, calling it "an economically hostile act." The US President also threated China with retaliatory measures such as a cooking oil embargo. "Volatility remains elevated, and the best explanation is the strained relationship between the US and China," Louis Navellier, a veteran investor, was quoted by CNBC. 

 

South Korea's Kospi, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 and the broader Topix snapped two consecutive sessions of losses and were 1-1.6% higher.  

 

China's blue-chip CSI 300 index was 0.5% higher and Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.5%. CPI in China fell 0.3% on year in September, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics. A Reuters poll of economists had forecasted a 0.2?ll. The metric had dropped 0.4% in August. The producer price index fell 2.3% on year in September as compared to a 2.9?ll in August, in line with market forecasts.

 

Following were the levels of key Asian indices at 0807 IST:

 

Index	Level	Change in %
CSI 300 Index	4556.95	0.39
Hang Seng Index	25842.67	1.58
Nikkei 225 Day	47365.86	1.11
TOPIX FIRST SECTION	3175.10	1.31
KOSPI	3624.69	1.77
FTSE Singapore Strait Times	4369.15	0.34
S&P/ASX 200 Index	8970.50	0.80

 

(Eshitva Prakash)

---

 

Equity Alert: Indices seen up, mirroring Asian mkts; US-China woes may weigh

 

MUMBAI--0803 IST--Benchmark indices may move slightly higher at open Wednesday mirroring gains in Asian indices. However, later in the day, analysts expect some volatility and profit booking at higher levels. Moreover, US President Donald Trump's recent criticism of China for "purposefully" not buying American soybeans is likely to weigh on the equity market.

 

Until the index holds the 25000 level, it is likely to continue its uptrend and will not face a sell-off, analysts said. The Nifty 50 Tuesday closed at 25145.50 points, down 81.85 points or 0.3%. The BSE Sensex closed at 82029.98 points, down 297.07 points or 0.4%. At 0800 IST, the GIFT Nifty was at 25287.50 points, 142 points higher than the Nifty 50's Tuesday close.

 

Trump on Tuesday criticised China, saying the latter is "purposefully" not buying American soybeans. He called it "an economically hostile act" and also threatened "retribution" such as a cooking oil embargo. "We are considering terminating business with China having to do with Cooking Oil, and other elements of Trade, as retribution," Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. "As an example, we can easily produce Cooking Oil ourselves, we don't need to purchase it from China."

 

However, Trump remains on track to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in South Korea later this month, as per media reports.

 

Meanwhile, optimism over India–US trade discussions resurfaced as New Delhi is set to hold talks with Washington this week and has reportedly agreed to boost imports of US energy and gas to address concerns over Russian oil purchases. The December contract of Brent Crude oil futures traded on the Intercontinental Exchange was flat at $62.38 per barrel, at 0802 IST.

Data centre-related stocks will be in focus after Google announced to invest $15 billion over five years to establish an artificial intelligence data centre in Andhra Pradesh, its largest-ever commitment in India. Market participants will assess the results of some key banking and financial companies due Wednesday, which include Axis Bank, HDFC Life Insurance Co., HDFC Asset Management Co., L&T Finance, and HDB Financial.

 

On the global front, indices in the US closed mixed as investors reacted to mostly positive quarterly results from big US banks, comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, and ongoing trade tensions between the US and China. Powell on Tuesday suggested the central bank is nearing a point where it will stop reducing the size of its bond holdings, and provided a few hints that more interest rate cuts are in the cards. Bucking the trend, Asian markets rose in early trade Wednesday.  (Simran Rede)

---

 

Equity Alert: US indices end mixed as US-China trade hostilities continue

 

MUMBAI--0740 IST--Stock indices in the US ended mixed after a volatile session of trade on Tuesday. Fresh trade-related hostilities between the US and China turned sentiment negative after US President Donald Trump criticised China for its refusal to buy US soybean. The market had opened lower after China imposed sanctions on five of Hanwa Ocean's US subsidiaries, barring individuals and organisations in China, from doing business with US companies. Gains in banks after largely positive quarterly results helped limit the decline in the US market.

 

Shares of Wells Fargo ended over 7% higher and Citigroup rose nearly 4?ter both lenders beat estimates for September quarter profit. JPMorgan Chase raised its full-year forecast for net interest income and Goldman Sachs raised estimates for quarterly profit, but both banks ended slightly lower. BlackRock's assets under management hit a record $13.46 trillion, sending its shares 3% higher at closing, Reuters reported.

 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the session 0.4% higher, led by gains in industrial stocks. Shares of Caterpillar rose almost 5?ter JP Morgan raised its price target on the stock, according to a Reuters report. Shares of Walmart rose 5?ter the retailer said it was partnering with OpenAI to enable customers and Sam's Club members to shop directly within ChatGPT.

 

The Nasdaq Composite closed almost 0.8% lower and the S&P 500 fell nearly 0.2%. Shares of technology companies such as Nvidia, Amazon, and Broadcom fell 2–4%. China's decision to not buy US soybean was "an economically hostile act", Trump posted on Truth Social Tuesday. He also threatened to consider "retribution" such as an embargo on cooking oil.

 

"It's just not clear what the off-ramp is as we head into the month's end for China and the US when it comes to trade tensions, and I think that's something the market is still trying to deal with," Rob Haworth, senior investment strategy director at US Bank Wealth Management, was quoted by CNBC as saying. "That's some of what's driving market sentiment now, even though...the earnings reports this morning tell us the financial sector appears to be doing well, and the consumer appears still healthy."

 

The Cboe Volatility index, which is considered Wall Street's fear gauge, rose above Friday's closing level at one point on Tuesday, signalling renewed angst on Wall Street that there will be no easy solution to the trade war with China and hedging for future losses using options may make some sense, according to a CNBC report.

 

Following are the closing levels of US indices Tuesday:

 

Index	Level	Change in %
S&P 500	6644.31	(-)0.16
NASDAQ Composite	22521.70	(-)0.76
Dow Jones Industrial Average	46270.46	0.44

 

(Eshitva Prakash)

 

End

 

US$1 = INR 88.80

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

 

All prices from National Stock Exchange, unless otherwise specified.

All percentage changes for share prices are rounded off to the nearest whole number; percentage changes for index values are rounded off to one decimal place.

All times are Indian Standard Time.

 

NSE: National Stock Exchange

NYSE: New York Stock Exchange

NYMEX: New York Mercantile Exchange

SEBI: Securities and Exchange Board of India

RBI: Reserve Bank of India

 

Internet links:

Securities and Exchange Board of India - http://www.sebi.gov.in

Bombay Stock Exchange - http://www.bseindia.com

National Stock Exchange of India - http://www.nseindia.com

Directory of Indian government websites - http://goidirectory.nic.in

Indian Ministry of Finance - http://www.finmin.nic.in

Reserve Bank of India - http://rbi.org.in

Controller General of Accounts, Government of India - http://www.cga.nic.in

Government's Press Information Bureau - http://www.pib.nic.in

 

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

 

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd, a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt Ltd.

 

Informist Media Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

 

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2025. All rights reserved.