The White House is tightening its pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the U.S. government shutdown enters its second week, saying it will give them another chance to agree on a spending bill before beginning mass layoffs of federal employees. With the Senate scheduled to vote Monday night for the fifth time on a stopgap bill to keep the government operating until November 21, Kevin Hassett, President Donald Trump's top economic adviser, argued that it's time for Democrats to be "reasonable." Trump has said he will use the government shutdown to lay off thousands more federal employees, who...
The Hang Seng soared 388 points or 1.8% to end at 21,522 on Monday, rising for the third session and notching their highest level since early October amid widespread sector gains. Concerns about China's deflation notably eased after Sunday's data showed consumer inflation hit a 5-month high due to solid holiday spending. In addition, worries about trade row between China and the US waned, with many traders viewing US tariff threats as negotiation tactics. The tech index climbed over 2.5% on continued optimism around China's AI tech. Meanwhile, China's three largest telecom operators --...
Major bourses in Europe kicked off the week slightly higher, with both the STOXX 50 and the STOXX 600 adding about 0.2%, as traders try to shrug off concerns about the trade war. President Donald Trump announced plans to impose 25% tariffs on all imports of steel and aluminum into the US and said new reciprocal tariffs would also be announced this week. This came as China's retaliatory tariffs on select US exports are set to take effect today, while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stated that the EU is ready to respond "within an hour" if the US imposes tariffs on European goods. Real...
Asia-Pacific markets fell Monday, tracking U.S. stocks futures that were lower ahead of key economic data, with escalating trade tensions denting investor sentiment. U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters Sunday that he was planning to announce a blanket 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports on Monday, according to Reuters. Over in Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 was trading flat, while the broader Topix index fell 0.16%, in choppy trading. The country reported loan growth of 3% year on year in January, falling slightly from December's 3.1%. South Korea's Kospi was flat in...
Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Monday, tracking U.S. stocks futures that were lower ahead of key economic data, with escalating trade tensions denting investor sentiment.U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters Sunday that he was planning to announce a blanket 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports on Monday, according to Reuters.Over in Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 was down 0.1%, while the broader Topix index fell 0.27%, in choppy trading.The country reported loan growth of 3% year on year in January, falling slightly from December's 3.1%.South Korea's indexes opened lower,...
Hong Kong's equities surged 253 points or 1.2% to 21,389 on Monday morning deals, marking the third session of gains and holding their highest in three months. Optimism toward China's tech sector continued to boost sentiment following the sudden emergence of low-cost AI model DeepSeek. At the same time, concerns over deflation risks in the mainland eased after consumer inflation hit a five-month top of 0.5% in January, topping consensus of 0.4%. Gains were broad-based, with top movers from tech, consumers, and financials. Further increases were tempered by news that President Trump will...
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...
Hamas officials were in Egypt on Monday (October 6th) ahead of talks with Israel that the US hopes will lead to an end to the war in Gaza and the release of hostages, despite contentious issues such...