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Informist, Friday, May 22, 2026                                      Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

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Equity Alert: Asian indices rise, Japan's Nikkei 225 outperforms

 

MUMBAI--0830 IST--Indices in Asia rose as market participants assessed the likelihood of the US and Iran striking a peace deal. The Brent crude oil price remaining slightly lower than in the past few days also possibly supported the indices. Brent Crude futures were near $104 per barrel. All major benchmark indices in the region were up. Japan's Nikkei 225 Day outperformed peers to rise over 2%.

 

Japan's inflation eased on an annualised basis in April compared to March. Consumer prices in the country rose 1.4% on year and 0.1% on month. Core inflation, which excludes fresh food and fuel prices, slowed to a four-year low. Core inflation rose 1.9% on year in April. "Although inflationary pressures eased in April, they will pick up again before long. Accordingly, we still think the Bank of Japan is likely to resume its tightening cycle sooner rather than later," Abhijit Surya, senior Asia-Pacific economist at Capital Economics, told Reuters.

 

Meanwhile in South Korea, consumer sentiment improved in May after having declined for two months running. Consumer sentiment regarding current living standards was at 93, two points higher than in April. Sentiment regarding current domestic economic conditions was significantly higher by 15 points on month at 83. One-year forward inflation expectations were lower at 2.8% compared to 2.9% in April. Semiconductor exports and the rally in the South Korean stock market probably supported the sentiment.

 

South Korea's broader market KOSDAQ was very volatile during early trade. Trading in the index was suspended briefly after it rose over 5%, the Dow Jones Newswires reported. The KOSDAQ had opened over 1% higher Thursday. The benchmark index, KOSPI, advanced modestly.

 

The following were the levels of major Asian indices at 0828 IST:

 

Index	Level	Change in %
CSI 300 Index	4809.9684	0.56
Hang Seng Index	25594.33	0.82
Nikkei 225 Day	63094.61	2.29
TOPIX FIRST SECTION	3886.48	0.85
KOSPI	7835.85	0.26
FTSE Singapore Strait Times	5054.29	0.17
S&P/ASX 200 Index	8666.90	0.52

 

(Ruchira Kagita)

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Equity Alert: US indices gain for second day albeit with muted moves

 

MUMBAI--0745 IST--Indices on Wall Street extended gains for the second straight session. Some semiconductor stocks lent support to the market but trade remained largely muted. The 'magnificent seven' stocks were largely flat in the trading session, with the exception of Nvidia Corp. falling almost 2% and Alphabet rising a little over 1%. Brent crude oil prices falling to around $103 per barrel also likely helped limit some losses. 

 

"The silver lining is that from a market perspective, the fragile ceasefire is still holding. It's positive there's still, according to news reports, the possibility of an off-ramp. Oil and market sentiment is very sensitive to every headline," Marc Dizard, chief investment officer at Huntington Wealth Managemen, told Reuters.

 

Among the major stocks in focus was Walmart. The retailer's shares tanked over 7% Thursday after the company retained its guidance for the full year. The company sees net sales growing 3.5-4.5%, and earnings per share to be between $2.75 and $2.85. "If the current elevated cost environment persists, we'd expect somewhat higher retail price inflation in Q2 and the second half of the year," Walmart Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey said on a call with analysts, NBC News reported. 

 

On the macroecnomic front, the number of people in the US filing for fresh jobless claims fell to 209,000 in the week ended May 16 from 212,000 reported last week. The Wall Street Journal had estimated initial jobless claims at 210,000. Continuing claims, meanwhile, were 1.78 million in the week ended May 9. In the previous week, continuing claims were revised to 1.78 million. The data on unemployment does signify a stable labour market but it will be important to see how the impact of the war in West Asia changes course for the US labour market. 

 

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

 

US Indices	Levels	Change in %
Dow Jones Industrial Average	50285.66	0.55
NASDAQ Composite	26293.098	0.09
S&P 500	7445.72	0.17

 

(Ruchira Kagita)

 

US$1 = INR 96.20

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

 

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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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