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...
Asian stocks moved mixed on Thursday after Wall Street rallied and pushed the S&P 500 to a new record. A decline in US producer price inflation (PPI) bolstered confidence that the Fed could cut interest rates again next week. Early in the session, Australia weakened while Japan fluctuated; US futures continued to edge higher. In the bond market, Treasuries stabilized after Wednesday's rally, while Australian and New Zealand debt strengthened. The dollar index tended to be flat and the yen strengthened against the greenback in early Asian trading—reflecting a "wait-and-see" mode ahead of...
The S&P 500 notched a second straight record-high close on Wednesday, as Oracle surged and cooler-than-expected inflation data supported expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next week. Oracle soared in its biggest one-day percentage gain since 1992 after the tech company pointed to a demand surge from AI firms for its cloud services. Its stock market value reached as high as $970 billion, leapfrogging the values of Eli Lilly, JPMorgan Chase and Walmart, and approaching Tesla's $1.1 trillion market value. AI-related chip stocks also rallied, with Nvidia,...
European stocks closed mostly lower on Wednesday with losses from tech, consumer defensive companies, and miners as markets continued to assess the outlook on global rates and geopolitical risk. The Eurozone's STOXX 50 closed dropped 0.2% to 5,378 and the pan-European STOXX 600 inched below the flatline to 552. The ECB is expected to leave borrowing costs unchanged tomorrow, though updated economic forecasts and guidance on the policy outlook will be closely watched. Geopolitical risks also remained in focus: Israel carried out strikes on Hamas targets in Qatar, while Poland intercepted...
The S&P 500 jumped to a fresh record on Wednesday after a reading on wholesale prices unexpectedly declined, a welcome development for investors clamoring for a Federal Reserve rate cut next week to boost the economy. Oracle shares led the gains with a more than 30% surge following an eye-popping forecast tied to artificial intelligence. The broad market index climbed 0.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.3%. The Nasdaq, alongside the S&P 500, had reached a new all-time intraday high in the trading day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 106 points, or 0.2%. Market sentiment...
The Hang Seng Index surged 262 points, or 1%, to close at 26,200 on Wednesday, rallying for a fourth straight session to a four-year high, driven by gains across all sectors. The index followed Wall Street's advance amid growing bets that recent US labor market weakness will prompt the Fed to cut interest rates by at least 25 basis points next week, with upcoming inflation data set to provide the final clue. In China, the sharpest CPI decline in six months in August rekindled hopes for fresh government support, potentially boosting the trade-in value of consumer goods, while producer...
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,...