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...
The Hang Seng fell 212 points, or 0.9%, to close at 24,072 on Monday, down for a third straight session as all sectors declined. Sentiment was weighed down by a third straight monthly decline in China's manufacturing sector in June, ahead of similar results from a private survey due on Tuesday. Financials led the decline, followed by property, technology and consumer discretionary. Significant losers included Bank of China Hong Kong (-5.5%), Li Auto (-3.3%), Meituan (-2.9%) and Tencent Hlds. (-1.5%). On the positive side, Laopu Gold surged to a record high, buoyed by high gold prices, even...
European stocks opened in the green on Monday, with the Stoxx 600 index up 0.1% in early deals, building on last week's gains. Global sentiment appears broadly robust, with Asia-Pacific stocks turning mixed but U.S. futures remaining higher. In Europe, sectors are mixed, with autos down 0.6% and banks slipping 0.25% as financial services gain 0.6%. Beneficiaries of the U.K.-U.S. trade deal, which took effect this morning, are slightly higher, having already notched strong gains on the previous announcement. Those include engine-maker Rolls-Royce, up 0.6%, and German automaker BMW,...
Japanese equities rose for a fifth day after trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa's extension of his US visit spurred hopes for a deal. Sentiment was also supported by the S&P 500 Index, which reached a new record on Friday. Topix Index climbed 0.4% to close at 2,852.84, just 2.6% below its previous all-time high set in July 2024. SoftBank Group Corp. contributed the most to the Topix Index gain, increasing 4.3%. Out of 1,681 stocks in the index, 897 rose and 705 fell, while 79 were unchanged. Nikkei advanced 0.8% to 40,487.39. The Topix Index rounded...
Japanese stocks rose after a decline in US consumer spending spurred expectations of a possible rate cut and improved investor sentiment as the S&P 500 Index reached a new high. The Topix Index rose 0.9% to 2,865.00 as of 9:33 a.m. Tokyo time, while the Nikkei advanced 1.4% to 40,719.74. SoftBank Group Corp. contributed the most to the Topix Index gain, increasing 5.2%. Out of 1,681 stocks in the index, 1,292 rose and 317 fell, while 72 were unchanged. Exporters such as machinery and precision instruments gained. Domestic demand-related shares such...
Asia-Pacific markets rose Monday as investors parsed a slew of data points, including South Korea and Japan's industrial output figures for May and China's purchasing managers' index readings for June. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 climbed 1.13% in early trade, while the broader Topix index advanced 0.77%. In South Korea, the Kospi index added 0.63%, while the small-cap Kosdaq was flat. Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 started the day 0.3% higher. Futures for Hong Kong's Hang Seng index stood at 24,182, pointing to a weaker open compared to the HSI's last close of...
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,...