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...
European stocks slumped on Monday (27/1) as the technology sector tracked a rout in other markets after China's improved low-cost, low-power artificial intelligence (AI) models fueled concerns about rivals' profits and the need for expensive technology. The pan-European STOXX 600 (.STOXX) was down 0.7% by 0815 GMT. U.S. Nasdaq Composite futures fell 3.1%, while S&P 500 futures fell 1%. Startup DeepSeek has launched a free assistant that it says uses low-cost chips and less data, appearing to challenge widespread bets in financial markets that AI will drive demand along the supply chain...
The Hang Seng rose 132 points, or 0.7%, to close at 20,198 on Monday (1/27), gaining for a second session amid broad gains. Positive sentiment was supported by news that the US and Colombia have averted trade tensions, as the White House confirmed that Bogota has agreed to all conditions set by President Trump in the migrant dispute. Adding to the upbeat mood, three Chinese insurance companies received regulatory approval to invest CNY 52 billion in stocks. Furthermore, excitement around DeepSeek, a Chinese AI with a cost-saving model, increased, sending tech stocks such as Kuaishou Tech...
Japanese stocks fell after the close on Monday (1/27), as losses in the Precision Instruments, Automobiles & Parts and Gas & Water sectors led shares lower. At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was down 0.83%. The best performers on the Nikkei 225 were Keio Corp. (TYO:9008), which rose 6.23% or 231.00 points to trade at 3,938.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Taiheiyo Cement Corp. (TYO:5233) gained 5.53% or 209.00 points to close at 3,987.00 and KDDI Corp. (TYO:9433) gained 4.81% or 234.00 points to 5,103.00 in late trade. The worst performers during the session were Furukawa Electric...
Hong Kong's stocks climbed 192 points or nearly 1% to 20,254 around noon on Monday, increasing for the second session and notching their highest level in two weeks as all sectors gained. Traders were upbeat after Bloomberg News reported that the US held off on Colombia tariffs after the South American country agreed to all of President Trump's terms in migrant dispute. A surge of 11% yoy in Chinese industrial profits for December also buoyed sentiment, as it marked the first rise since July even as they recorded the third consecutive year of drop. Limiting further gains was a slump in US...
Japanese stocks started the week on a positive note but quickly gave up most of their early gains as investors assessed the impact of the Bank of Japan's latest monetary policy decision. On Friday, the BOJ raised interest rates by 25 basis points to 0.5%, marking the highest short-term borrowing costs in 16 years. The central bank also projected inflation to reach its 2% target in the second half of its forecast period, suggesting the possibility of more rate hikes ahead. Investor sentiment soured further following news that US President Donald Trump had imposed tariffs and sanctions on...
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...