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...
China stocks rose modestly on Thursday, with the Shanghai Composite up 0.1% to around 3,370 and the Shenzhen Component up 0.3% to 10,636, recovering losses from the previous session. However, concerns over China's economic challenges and escalating trade tensions with the U.S. kept investors cautious. The November PMI report showed a second straight month of expansion in China's manufacturing sector, although growth in the services sector slowed. Meanwhile, Beijing recently banned exports of critical minerals with military applications to the U.S., a retaliatory move in response to...
Hong Kong stocks plunged 200 points, or 1.0%, to 19,544 on Thursday morning, after a quiet session the previous day, as the sector's overall decline was broadly broad. Traders were concerned about the impact of political instability in South Korea and France. They also shied away from riskier assets amid a potential trade war between China and the US, fueled by technology sanctions from the Biden administration and threats of tariffs from newly elected President Trump. An unexpected slowdown in China's services activity last month added to market jitters. Meanwhile, US stock futures were...
The Nikkei 225 index rose 0.5% to around 39,460 while the broader Topix index gained 0.2% to 2,745 on Thursday, extending this week's rally and tracking gains on Wall Street overnight where the three major U.S. indexes closed at fresh record highs. The advances were driven by strong corporate earnings and optimism around the artificial intelligence boom, with major U.S. tech companies highlighting the significant boost they are receiving from the sector. In Japan, investors continued to focus on the outlook for monetary policy, with market sentiment divided on the timing of the Bank of...
Asia-Pacific markets opened mixed on Thursday, as all three major Wall Street indexes hit record highs, buoyed by a tech rally and comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Investors in Asia will continue to monitor the political situation in South Korea. Less than a day after he declared martial law, lawmakers in the country moved to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol. South Korea released revised gross domestic product for the third quarter, showing the economy grew 0.1% quarter-on-quarter, and 1.5% year-on-year. The figures matched advanced estimates. Australia's S&P/ASX...
All three major U.S. stock indices closed at record highs on Wednesday. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq advanced by 0.6% and 1.3%, respectively, while the Dow Jones gained 303 points, marking its first-ever close above 45,000. Market sentiment was bolstered by a solid performance in the tech sector and encouraging earnings reports from major companies. Additionally, traders closely followed remarks from Fed Chair Powell. At the DealBook Summit, Powell reiterated that the central bank is not in rush to lower interest rates, emphasizing that the US economy remains solid but continues to face...
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,...