Japanese Stocks Suffered Serious Losses on November 24

Stocks in Asia-Pacific were mixed on November 24. It was a challenging day for Japanese stocks. The Nikkei 225 dropped 1.58% to end its trading day at 29,302.66. The Topix index fell 1.16% to close at 2,019.12. 

In South Korea, the Kospi dropped 0.1% to 2,994.29. 

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 0.54% as of its final hour trading. Let’s have a look at the mainland Chinese stocks as well. The Shanghai Composite added 0.1% to 3,592.70, and the Shenzhen component fell to 0.118% to about 14,887.60. 

In Singapore, the Straits Times index added 0.12% as of 3:16 p.m. local time. 

The country’s economy grew 7.1% in the third quarter as compared with a year ago. The result surpassed expectations. Nonetheless, it’s slower than the 15.2% year-on-year growth recorded in the second quarter. The trade and industry ministry updated its 2021 economic growth estimates for Singapore to around 7%.

 Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.15% to 7,399.40. 

In Europe, the pan-European Stoxx 600 declined slightly below the flatline by mid-morning. Travel and leisure stocks fell 2.4%, while utilities added 0.7%. 

Investors continue to monitor the Covid crisis in Europe. Germany, Austria, France, and other countries are struggling to cope with the Covid-19. For example, France recorded more than 30,000 new daily infections on November 23. Austria has already reintroduced strict measures to reduce the number of new cases.

U.S. stocks on November 23

The situation regarding U.S. stocks is also quite interesting. The Nasdaq Composite dropped for the second consecutive day as higher interest rates appeared to put pressure on high-flying tech stocks. Still, shares of banks and industrial names moved higher in a split market on Tuesday.

 The Nasdaq composite fell 0.50% to 15,775.14. The S&P 500 advanced 0.17% to 4,690.70. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 194.55 points to 35,813.80 thanks to bank and energy stocks.

 Facebook’s parent company Meta declined 1.1%, while Roku and biotech stock Moderna fell more than 2%. On November 23, shares of Zoom Video Communications dropped 14.7% a day after it surpassed earnings estimates but warned of a slowdown ahead as the Covid-19 winds down and the demand for remote contract declines.

 Shares of JPMorgan gained nearly 2.4%. Moreover, chipmaker Western Digital was one of the best performers on November 23, rising 6.3% following an upgrade from Mizuho.