Stock Index

HSBC said 73% of Indian companies reporting June-quarter earnings met or exceeded analysts’ expectations, near the upper end of the range seen since 2020. The bank noted non-food credit growth accelerated to 18.3% year-on-year in June 2026 from around 10% in late 2025, while passenger vehicle sales rebounded sharply after last year’s mid-year contraction. Consensus forecasts see India’s corporate earnings rising around 14% in 2026 and 17% in 2027, with HSBC expecting the gains to be concentrated in industrials, consumer discretionary and financials.

Preliminary data showed the U.S. July nonfarm payrolls report was weak, with job gains for the prior two months sharply revised lower, while the unemployment rate fell to 4.1%. CME FedWatch put the odds of a rate hike at the Fed’s next meeting at 44%, down from 55% in the prior session and 67% a week earlier. As risk appetite improved, the S&P 500 rose 0.60% to a record close of 7756.44, and the Nasdaq gained 1.29% to 26690.62.

U.S. stock futures edged higher on Friday as investors awaited the U.S. employment report. Strong earnings from tech companies lifted sentiment, with Atlassian up 31.6% in premarket trading and Microchip Technology rising 8.9%. The S&P 500 and the Dow were set for their best weekly performance since April, while the Nasdaq was on track for its biggest weekly gain since May. The government also raised tariffs on polysilicon to support domestic industry.

South Korean retail investors are accelerating a shift into U.S. stocks after the KOSPI fell 33% from its June peak and the won strengthened, pushing July buying above the 2025 monthly average. The won rose 8% in July to a nine-month high, and SK Hynix’s $26.5 billion fundraising and partial repatriation also contributed to the move. Some inflows still went to Korea-linked ETFs, but the amounts were far smaller than the money headed into U.S. equities.

Japan’s Topix stock index is set for its biggest overhaul, with analysts estimating that more than 600 companies—over a third of its constituents—could be phased out. The removals would apply to firms whose free-float market capitalization ranks in the bottom 3% of Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed companies in August, according to analysts’ estimates. The changes are scheduled to be implemented in stages over two years beginning in October. Passive funds tracking Topix are estimated to account for about $1 trillion, and the overhaul aims to reduce the index’s exposure to small and illiquid stocks.

US stocks were mixed, with the S&P 500 up 0.07%, the Dow down 0.38%, and the Nasdaq 100 up 0.26%. Software names weighed on the market as Datadog fell 15% after reporting Q2 adjusted gross margin below consensus, and AppLovin slid 19% after missing revenue estimates. A rebound in chipmakers helped limit losses after early pressure tied to a 4% drop in South Korea’s Kospi. The session remained choppy overall.

A July selloff in AI-related stocks dragged major Asian benchmarks including South Korea’s Kospi and Japan’s Nikkei sharply lower, pushing Asia-focused equity hedge funds into an average 15.2% drawdown, the steepest on record. Some of the region’s largest multistrategy platforms posted monthly losses of 3% to 9%, according to Reuters. Hong Kong-based Polymer Capital Management lost 6.9% for the month.

U.S. stocks finished mixed on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 retreating from earlier highs while the Dow posted gains. Chipmakers led declines after Advanced Micro Devices’ third-quarter sales forecast fell short of expectations, dragging the sector lower. Amgen advanced after reporting results that beat expectations, while SpaceX slid more than 13% after projecting higher-than-expected spending on its AI business.

The S&P 500’s forecast for second-quarter earnings growth has been raised to 47% from about 20% at the start of the reporting season, and it would still be above 28% even excluding two stocks. That would mark a seventh straight quarter of double-digit earnings growth. Unlike past spikes tied largely to post-crisis rebounds in 2021 and 2010, the current upswing is described as more internally driven.

US stocks surged to record levels as corporate earnings beat expectations and oil prices fell. SpaceX reported a $US541 million loss in its first quarterly report as a public company, but it was smaller than Wall Street anticipated while revenue jumped. Australian share futures pointed to a 35-point, or 0.4%, gain at the open, and the Australian dollar strengthened to US70.47¢. Caterpillar posted its first-ever quarterly sales above $US20 billion, and S&P 500 spring earnings growth expectations were nearing 50%, according to FactSet.