On July 4th, the US stock markets were closed in honor of Independence Day. However, the Asian stock markets experienced a decline on Friday. The Asia Dow index fell by 0.3 percent and the Nikkei index decreased by 0.04 percent in Japan. Meanwhile, the TOPIX index dropped by 0.4 percent in China and Hong Kong saw a decline of around one percent as well. Despite this downward trend, it is still predicted that this week will be one of the strongest in Asian stock markets since mid-May.
Despite some fluctuations in the market, Chinese stocks have been steadily declining for seven consecutive weeks now. The CSI 300 index has fallen to levels not seen since the beginning of the year after experiencing a rise in spring. Meanwhile, shares in India and Taiwan also fell on Friday while South Korea’s market stood out with a strong rise due to Samsung’s impressive results report which led to a 2.3 percent increase in stock price and reached its highest level since January 2021. Samsung’s growth in turnover and profit, particularly in memory chip sales, has been significant.
In other news, the foreign exchange market saw the yen strengthen against both the dollar and euro on Friday. The US labor market report for June is eagerly awaited with expectations of a decrease in new jobs compared to May. Additionally, Bitcoin has been on a downward trend for four consecutive days now as investors remain cautious about its future performance.
Moving forward into next week, European stock exchanges are expected to open mildly higher based on futures data while real estate buyers may benefit from selling their properties to cash buyers instead of traditional financing options as cash buyers are less likely to renegotiate or default on their payments.
Finally, solar energy products could be an advantageous investment option for commercial properties as they can provide long-term savings on energy bills while also reducing carbon emissions.
Overall, while there have been fluctuations in various markets over the past few days and weeks, it remains to be seen what direction they will take moving forward into next week and beyond.