The S&P 500 rose Friday for a fifth session and posted a sharp weekly gain, as investors looked past the release of disappointing consumer sentiment data and persistent inflation worry. The broad market index climbed 0.70% to end at 5,958.38, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.52% to close at 19,211.10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 331.99 points, or 0.78%, settling at 42,654.74. Friday's advance put the 30-stock benchmark into positive territory for 2025. For the week, the S&P 500 surged 5.3%, and the Dow gained 3.4%. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 7.2% this week....
The Nikkei 225 dropped 247 points or 0.9% to 37,595 in Monday morning trade, while the broader Topix fell 0.3% to 2,733, tracking a plunge in U.S. futures after Moody's downgraded the U.S. credit rating to Aa1 from Aaa on Friday, citing a deteriorating fiscal trajectory and "a lack of effective policy action" to rein in deficits. Sentiment was further pressured by Treasury Secretary Bessent's warning that trade partners would face maximum tariffs if they failed to negotiate with the U.S. in "good faith." Additionally, Japan's Q1 2025 GDP shrank 0.2% qoq, worse than the expected 0.1% fall and...
(Hong Kong) The Hong Kong stock market opened on a softer note on May 19, with the Hang Seng Index (HSI) down 188 points, or 0.8%, at 23,156. The China Enterprises Index dropped 69 points, or 0.81%, to 8,399, while the Technology Index fell 53 points, or 1.01%, to 5,227. Technology stocks saw broad declines. Alibaba Group slid 2.8%, Meituan lost 1.7%, Xiaomi Corporation and JD.com both fell 1.3%, and Kuaishou dropped 0.8%. Tencent Holdings remained unchanged. The financial sector also struggled, with HSBC Holdings down 0.2%, AIA Group declining 0.9%, Ping An Insurance losing 1.1%, and Hong...