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...
Hong Kong stocks fell 144 points, or 0.6%, to 24,936 in early trading on Friday, ending a four-day winning streak amid widespread weakness. Caution prevails ahead of China's July CPI and PPI data due Saturday, with consumer prices expected to ease slightly and producer deflation likely to persist amid ongoing trade risks. On the domestic front, Hong Kong's foreign exchange reserves fell to a three-month low of USD 425.4 billion in July. Semiconductor Manufacturing shares plunged 4.7% after missing second-quarter profit estimates, while MGM China (-4.3%), Kingdee Intl. Software (-4.2%), SITC...
Japan's Nikkei stock index rose 1.2% to 41,563.29 on Friday morning, driven by gains in the electronics and automotive sectors. This rise occurred as investor concerns eased regarding the impact of US tariffs on Japanese corporate profits. Sony shares jumped 4.6%, while Subaru gained 3.2%. Market sentiment was also supported by SoftBank Group's first-quarter earnings report, which beat analysts' expectations, pushing its shares up 5.1%. The USD/JPY exchange rate was stable at 147.06, not far from the previous close of 147.11. Investors are now focused on corporate earnings and political...
Asian stock markets opened higher on Friday (August 8), marking a fifth consecutive day of gains. The market's performance was supported by Japanese technology stocks, particularly Sony and SoftBank, which surged after reporting strong financial results. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.5%, while the Nikkei 225 jumped 1.3%. US stock futures also edged higher. Meanwhile, the US dollar weakened for the sixth consecutive day, recording its longest losing streak since March 2024. The yen briefly strengthened before recovering after Japan and the US agreed to end the universal tariff policy...
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gave back gains and closed lower on Thursday as investors pocketed some of their profits in what's been a solid week thus far. The 30-stock Dow fell 224.48 points, or 0.51%, closing at 43,968.64.The S&P 500 lost 0.08% and ended at 6,340.00. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.35%, ending at 21,242.70. The major averages saw sharp swings during the session, with the Dow up more than 300 points at its high and off more than 390 points at its low. The blue-chip Dow was weighed down by a 2.5% decline in Caterpillar shares after the construction equipment maker...
The European stock markets closed mostly higher in Thursday trading as the Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.92%, Germany's DAX climbed 1.12%, the FTSE 100 was off 0.69%, France's CAC increased 0.97%, and the Swiss Market Index was up 0.80%. In Germany, price-adjusted production in the manufacturing sector declined 1.9% in June compared with May, according to preliminary data from the Federal Statistical Office, falling to its lowest level since May 2020 during the COVID pandemic. In the UK, house prices rose 0.4% in July from June, the highest monthly rise since the start of the year, according to...
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,...