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Informist, Wednesday, Apr. 29, 2026                                      Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

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Equity Alert: Most indices in Asia gain, KOSPI touches fresh high

 

MUMBAI--0815 IST--Most indices in Asia gained Monday as market participants appeared to cheer US President Donald Trump's 'Project Freedom' to free stranded ships in the Strait of Hormuz, even as details of the plan are awaited. Brent Crude oil futures also fell around 4% from Friday's high to under $110 per barrel. South Korea's benchmark KOSPI hit a fresh record high, with the index up almost 4% in early trade. Markets in Japan and China were closed for a public holiday.

 

"I have told my Representatives to inform them that we will use best efforts to get their Ships and Crews safely out of the Strait. In all cases, they said they will not be returning until the area becomes safe for navigation and everything else. This process, Project Freedom, will begin Monday morning, Middle East time," Trump said in a post on social media platform Truth Social. 

 

However, concerns about the adverse impact of high energy prices and global supply chain disruptions on economic health persist for central banks. A senior deputy governor at the Bank of Korea said that a hawkish view is likely at the upcoming monetary policy meeting this month, Reuters reported. Deputy Governor Ryoo Sang-dai said it was time to consider interest rate hikes. 

 

On Friday, the Japanese yen strengthened by over 3% against the dollar. The move came after the government took measures to prop up the currency, media reports suggested. Earlier in the previous week, Japan's finance minister had flagged concerns about the yen's depreciation and hinted at taking action to curb its weakness. 

 

The following were the levels of major Asian indices at 0803 IST:

 

Index	Level	Change in %
Hang Seng Index	26256.50	1.86
KOSPI	6854.35	3.87
FTSE Singapore Strait Times	4946.75	0.69
S&P/ASX 200 INDEX	8708.00	(-)0.25

 

(Ruchira Kagita)

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Equity Alert: Tech earnings drive rally; NASDAQ, S&P 500 hit new highs Fri

 

MUMBAI--0735 IST--Concerns around the fragile truce between the US and Iran took a backseat as robust earnings of technology majors drove upward momentum on the Wall Street Friday. The S&P 500 and the NASDAQ Composite surged to new all-time-high levels, and closed higher for the fifth consecutive week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average bucked the trend to close in the red Friday, but the index ended the week with gains.

 

Shares of Apple rose after the company's sales in the quarter ended March came in around $57 billion, and its gross profit margin was 49.3%. The results were better than what analysts had expected, boosted primarily by higher demand for the iPhone 17. Shares of the iPhone maker had closed over 3% higher. 

 

"We have these fast-rising profits on one side, and then on the other, we have upward pressures on oil prices and bond yields," Angelo Kourkafas, a senior global investment strategist at Edward Jones, told Reuters. "We've rallied a lot in April, so potentially we may enter some period of consolidation as this pull and push is playing out," he added. 

 

Over this week, Palantir Technologies, Walt Disney Co., and McDonald's Corp are among the key companies which will report their earnings for the March quarter. Shares of chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices will also be in focus ahead of the company's earnings. S&P 500 earnings as of Friday were on track to have climbed 27.8% on year in the March quarter, Reuters reported, citing data from LSEG Data & Analytics. 

 

Following were the closing levels of major US indices on Friday:

 

US Indices	Levels	Change in %
Dow Jones Industrial Average	49499.27	(-)0.31
NASDAQ Composite	25114.443	0.89
S&P 500	7230.12	0.29

 

(Ruchira Kagita)

 

US$1 = INR 94.91

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

 

Edited by Saji George Titus

 

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.

 

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