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 STOXX 50 and STOXX 600 hovered near the flatline on Friday as investors digested a week filled with monetary policy decisions. The Bank of Japan left interest rates unchanged as expected but surprised markets by announcing plans to begin unwinding its massive exchange-traded fund holdings. Traders also monitored a call between US President Trump and Chinese President Xi for signals on trade negotiations. On the corporate side, SAP (-0.9%) and ASML Holding (-1%) slipped into the red, while Airbus (+1.7%) and Banco Santander (+0.6%) posted gains. Source: Trading Economics
Japanese shares fell on Friday after the BOJ kept short-term rates at 0.5% but revealed two dissenting votes for a hike and moved to sell its ETF and REIT holdings. The Nikkei 225 fell 0.58%, or 264.26 points, to end at 45,039.17. The BOJ will sell about 330 billion yen in ETFs and 5 billion yen in J-REITs annually, around 0.05% of market turnover, and scrap its ETF lending facility. It said Japan's economy is recovering moderately, though exports and output are flat, housing investment is weak, and U.S. tariffs are squeezing manufacturers. Core CPI stands at 2.5-3.0% on higher food...
The Hang Seng Index started the day with a 38-point rise to 26,583 points but later retreated, currently down by 88 points or 0.33%, standing at 26,456 points. The H-share index dropped by 21 points or 0.22% to 9,435 points, while the technology index fell by 19 points or 0.3% to 6,251 points. The main board saw a turnover of 500 billion yuan. In the tech sector, there is a general softness observed as Tencent dropped by 0.3%, Alibaba by 0.8%, Meituan by 0.4%, Xiaomi Group by 1.9%, JD.com rose by 1.7%, and Kuaishou declined by 2.9%. Financial stocks are trending downwards with HSBC...
The Nikkei 225 Index climbed 0.9% to around 46,570 while the broader Topix Index advanced 0.8% to 3,185 on Friday, with Japanese equities hitting fresh all-time highs as investors awaited the Bank of Japan's policy decision, where rates are expected to remain unchanged. Still, markets are pricing in a possible 25 basis point hike in October amid signs of resilience in the economy. Investors also assessed data showing Japan's core inflation rose 2.7% in August, easing for the third straight month to the lowest since November 2024. Japanese stocks also mirrored Wall Street's rally, with the...
Asian stocks were on the cusp of an intraday record high after US and global equity benchmarks hit fresh peaks, as the Federal Reserve's interest-rate cut bolstered sentiment. Stocks in Japan and Australia opened higher while South Korea was flat. The S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Russell 2000 small-cap index all closed together at fresh highs for the first time since November 2021. An MSCI index of global stocks also closed at a record in a sign of robust risk appetite. The yen was steady after Japan's...
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,...