If it just seems like the first Friday of the month wasn't the same without being able to pore through the Bureau of Labor Statistics' hotly watched monthly jobs report, don't worry. You probably didn't miss much. While the BLS has gone dark with the shutdown in Washington, other reports outside the government data suggest the labor market just plodded along in September. The Dow Jones consensus forecast was for growth of 51,000 in nonfarm payrolls with the unemployment rate holding steady at 4.3%. High-frequency data that includes job postings, private payrolls and state-by-state figures...
Japanese stocks are lower as the yen strengthened against the dollar overnight due to expectations for a Fed rate cut later Wednesday. Financial stocks are leading declines after U.S. Treasury yields dropped overnight. Japan Post Bank is down 2.1% and Dai-ichi Life Holdings is 2.7% lower. USD/JPY is at 146.27, down from 146.87 as of Tuesday's Tokyo stock market close. Investors are focusing on any developments related to the leadership election for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party of Japan. The Nikkei Stock Average is down 0.6% at 44618.33. Source: Bloomberg
US stocks edged lower on Tuesday (September 16th) as investors took profits ahead of the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated September policy meeting. The S&P 500 fell 0.1%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 125 points, and the Nasdaq Composite closed slightly below the flatline. Leading technology stocks including Nvidia, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Palantir declined, while financial and utility stocks also weighed on the overall market. Traders widely expect the Fed to cut interest rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday, marking its first rate cut since December, with the market...
European stocks closed sharply lower on Tuesday, pressured by aggressive losses in the financial sector as markets continued to assess the global interest rate outlook. The STOXX 50 fell 1.3% to 5,372, and the pan-European STOXX 600 fell 1.2% to 551. Traders were cautious ahead of this week's key monetary policy decisions from the Fed and the Bank of England, as well as Sino-US trade talks, while US President Trump began his visit to the UK today. Data-wise, the ZEW Economic Sentiment Index for Germany surprisingly showed an uptick, while UK employment data continued to indicate a slowdown...
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq each gained 0.1% on Tuesday, setting fresh record highs after closing at all-time peaks in the previous session. The Dow Jones, however, hovered near the flatline. Investors stayed focused on the FOMC meeting, which begins today, with the Fed widely expected to deliver a 25bps rate cut tomorrow. On the data front, both retail sales and industrial production surprised to the upside, while export and import prices also exceeded forecasts. Still, the figures did little to alter market expectations for Fed policy. By sector, energy outperformed, while utilities and...
The Hang Seng ended little changed on Tuesday, hovering around 26,438 after dipping earlier in the session. Another record close on Wall Street Monday supported sentiment, as bets grew that the Fed will resume its easing cycle this week and leave the door open to further cuts. Strength in tech and consumer stocks helped offset weakness in property and financials, while traders digested a framework deal between the US and China to place TikTok under US-controlled ownership, with final approval expected in a Friday call between President Trump and Xi Jinping. The index tracked mainland...
Asia-Pacific markets traded higher, tracking Wall Street gains overnight.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.41% after hitting a fresh record high on Thursday, while the Topix added 0.61%. South...
Both the STOXX 50 and STOXX 600 hovered around the flatline on Friday, as investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of further developments in trade talks between US President Trump and Chinese...
The U.S. government shut down much of its operations on Wednesday as deep partisan divisions prevented Congress and the White House from reaching a funding deal, setting off what could be a long,...