· Stocks posted solid weekly gains, but an ongoing U.S. government shutdown and worries about an economic slowdown in China pushed shares marginally lower on Friday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 both rose more than 2 percent this week while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 3.45 percent. Amazon and Facebook both rose more than 4 percent this week, while Netflix surged 13.45 percent as investors put money into the beaten-down names from December. The Dow and S&P 500 also posted their first three-week winning streak since August.
On Friday, the Dow slipped 5.97 points to 23,995.95 while the S&P 500 closed just below breakeven at 2,596.26. The Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.2 percent to 6,971.48. This was the first decline for the major indexes in six sessions.
· Asia Pacific markets started off the trading week mixed: Australian stocks advanced Monday morning while South Korean shares stumbled. The market in Japan is closed for a public holiday.
Australia’s benchmark ASX 200 was up 0.25 percent in morning trade, with most sectors advancing — the heavily-weighted financial subindex rose 0.63 percent, boosted by gains from the country’s so-called Big Four banks.
Meanwhile, the Australian dollar traded at $0.7207 as of 8:14 a.m. HK/SIN, advancing from levels near $0.7120 in the previous week.
In South Korea, the Kospi declined nearly 0.2 percent in early trade as tech names in the country declined.
Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest smartphone maker, fell 1.23 percent while its chip-making rival SK Hynix declined 2.76 percent.
Concerns over an ongoing U.S. government shutdown and worries about an economic slowdown in China could dampen a relatively positive sentiments seen in markets last week.
Reference: CNBC
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