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...
Asia-Pacific markets opened mixed on Wednesday, following losses on Wall Street that sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average down for a ninth straight day. Investors in Asia were assessing trade data from Japan ahead of the Bank of Japan's interest rate decision later this week. The country's exports grew 3.8% in November year-on-year, beating economists polled by Reuters' forecasts for a 2.8% increase. Imports, meanwhile, fell 3.8%, well below expectations for a 1% expansion. The figures put Japan's trade balance in deficit at 117.6 billion yen ($765.2 million), higher than expectations...
Japan's Nikkei 225 Index fell for a fourth day on Wednesday as investors remained cautious ahead of monetary policy decisions by the Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan. A decline in U.S. semiconductor stocks also dragged on the market. The Nikkei index was down 0.2 percent at 39,275.88 as of 9:07 a.m. in Tokyo The Topix index was little changed at 2,726.90 Of the 2,126 stocks in the index, 819 rose and 1,132 fell, while 175 were unchanged If the market starts to reduce expectations for a Fed rate cut next year, it's hard to predict how U.S. stocks will react, weighing on Japanese...
US stock index futures fell, causing a rally in leading technology stocks to pause, as investors await a raft of economic data and the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision. Futures on the S&P 500 were down 0.3% at 5:42 a.m. in New York, while tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures were little changed after the index posted back-to-back records. CNH Industrial shares edged up in premarket trading after the machine-tool company was upgraded to overweight from equal-weight at Morgan Stanley, which forecast that 2025 will provide clarity on the major equipment cycle. The US stock rally...
The Hang Seng lost 95 points or 0.5% to finish at 19,700 on Tuesday, down for the third session amid a steep decline in US futures following a record close on Wall Street Nasdaq, ahead of an anticipated interest rate reduction from the Fed Wednesday. The index hits its lowest level in over a week, weighed by the third straight session of losses in Chinese markets and vigilance before the PBoC's monthly review of key lending rates later this week, after record low levels in November. Further declines were limited by a report from Reuters that China plans a record top budget deficit of 4% in...
European markets opened in negative territory on Tuesday as central banks took center stage this week. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index opened 0.4% lower with all sectors in negative territory, as did all major European bourses. The focus of global markets this week is the U.S. Federal Reserve's final two-day policy meeting of the year. The meeting begins on Tuesday, with the central bank's monetary policy decision due on Dec. 18. Traders are pricing in a 95% chance of a quarter-point rate cut on Wednesday, according to CME Group's Fed Watch tool. Investors will also be looking for...
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,...