Global markets ended the week on a mixed note, with Wall Street rising on strong corporate earnings while European equities slipped amid softer inflation. In Asia, Japan and South Korea led gains on tech strength, whereas China, Hong Kong and Australia declined on weaker data and company earnings. New Zealand edged higher.
US stocks rebounded on Friday, with Wall Street closing the week on a positive note as strong results from Amazon helped restore confidence in Big Tech. The NASDAQ rose +0.6%, the S&P 500 gained +0.3%, and the DOW edged up +0.1%. Amazon surged +9.6% after a 20% rise in cloud revenue, sparking gains across AI-related stocks—Palantir rose +3.0% and Oracle advanced +2.2%. Nvidia (-0.2%) fluctuated after announcing plans to supply up to 260,000 AI chips to South Korean firms, while Netflix lifted +2.7% on news of a 10-for-1 stock split. The US two-year yield fell -3bp to 3.58% and the 10-year yield dropped -1bp to 4.083%.
European markets ended lower on Friday as investors weighed a series of corporate earnings, regional economic data, and recent central bank policy decisions. The STOXX 600 fell -0.5%, with the UK’s FTSE 100 and France’s CAC 40 both down -0.4%, and Germany’s DAX slipping -0.7%. Data showed eurozone inflation eased to 2.1% in October from 2.2% in September, largely due to falling energy prices, while the European Central Bank held its deposit rate at 2% for the third consecutive meeting. Among individual stocks, WPP slid -5.0% after reporting negative organic growth across most segments in its first quarterly update under new CEO Cindy Rose, as she works to steer the company through a major turnaround.
Asian markets ended mixed on Friday, as strong performances in Japan and South Korea were offset by weakness in China, Hong Kong and Australia. Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped +2.1% to a record high, fuelled by a weaker yen, strong tech gains, and optimism around AI-driven growth and potential fiscal stimulus measures. In contrast, China’s Shanghai Composite fell -0.8% after manufacturing activity contracted for a seventh straight month, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped -1.4% following weak results from electric vehicle maker BYD (-3.5%). South Korea’s Kospi gained +0.5%, supported by Nvidia’s expanded AI partnership with Hyundai (+9.4%), which lifted sentiment. In Australia, the ASX 200 slipped -0.1% ahead of next week’s Reserve Bank meeting, weighed down by declines in Wesfarmers (-2.5%) and Origin Energy (-2.8%). New Zealand’s NZX 50 rose +0.7% to a three-week high, led by cyclicals Freightways (+2.9%) and Oceania Healthcare (+2.6%).
The WTI crude benchmark added +0.7% to US$60.98/bbl, gold fell -0.5% to US$4,001.78/oz, and iron ore gained +1.5% to US$107.27/MT.