The White House is tightening its pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the U.S. government shutdown enters its second week, saying it will give them another chance to agree on a spending bill before beginning mass layoffs of federal employees. With the Senate scheduled to vote Monday night for the fifth time on a stopgap bill to keep the government operating until November 21, Kevin Hassett, President Donald Trump's top economic adviser, argued that it's time for Democrats to be "reasonable." Trump has said he will use the government shutdown to lay off thousands more federal employees, who...
Wall Street's main indexes rallied at the open on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump dialed back on his threats to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and raised hopes for a trade deal with China. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI), rose 628.0 points, or 1.60%, at the open to 39,815.01. The S&P 500 (.SPX), rose 108.2 points, or 2.05%, at the open to 5,395.92, while the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), rose 579.9 points, or 3.56%, to 16,880.29 at the opening bell. Source: Reuters
The Hang Seng jumped 510 points or 2.4% to close at a more than 3-week high of 22,073 on Wednesday, rising for a third session. The rally followed a surge in U.S. futures after President Trump said he had no plans to fire Fed Chair Powell and signaled the possibility of lower tariffs on China. Trump also backed off earlier threats to remove Powell, having recently urged the Fed to cut interest rates. Financials, consumer, and tech stocks posted solid rises of 2% to over 3%, as investors looked ahead to the upcoming Politburo meeting for clearer policy direction. Citi noted the session...
Japan stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Real Estate, Banking and Textile sectors led shares higher. At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 2.02%. The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Konica Minolta, Inc. (TYO:4902), which rose 9.95% or 39.70 points to trade at 438.60 at the close. Meanwhile, Fujifilm Holdings Corp. (TYO:4901) added 8.73% or 233.50 points to end at 2,909.50 and Hino Motors, Ltd. (TYO:7205) was up 6.55% or 29.70 points to 483.00 in late trade. The worst performers of the session were Nitori Holdings Co Ltd (TYO:9843),...
Major European stock markets advanced on Wednesday, with both the STOXX 50 and STOXX 600 gaining around 1%, building on the previous session's gain and mirroring a broadly positive global sentiment. Investors took comfort after President Trump stated he has no plans to dismiss Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, easing fears over the politicization of US monetary policy. Hopes for a de-escalation in trade tensions between the US and China also lifted sentiment, following remarks from both President Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. On the corporate front, shares of SAP jumped...
Hong Kong stocks surged 338 points or 1.6% to a near 10-week peak of 21,904 in Wednesday morning trade, rising for a third straight session. The rally followed a rebound on Wall Street after U.S. President Trump softened his tone on Fed Chair Powell, despite recently posting, "Powell's termination cannot come fast enough!" Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he expects the U.S. and China to begin de-escalating trade tensions "in the very near future." On the domestic front, reports suggested Chinese "national team" and retail investors stepped in to support mainland equities....
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...
Hamas officials were in Egypt on Monday (October 6th) ahead of talks with Israel that the US hopes will lead to an end to the war in Gaza and the release of hostages, despite contentious issues such...