Strong evidence of a cooling US labor market rippled through Wall Street, spurring a rally in bonds as traders boosted their bets the Federal Reserve will cut rates in December. A slide in megacaps dragged down stocks. With the scarcity of data caused by the federal shutdown, investors have turned to private readings such as the Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. report showing companies announced the most job cuts for any October in over 20 years. Following the numbers, money markets now imply an about 60% chance of a...
European stocks closed sharply lower on Thursday after a brief uptick the previous day as investors weighed a fresh round of mixed corporate earnings and signs of higher unemployment in the US. The STOXX 50 fell 1% to 5,613 and the STOXX 600 fell 0.7% to 567. Commerzbank shares slipped 2% after the lender reported a surprise 7.9% year-on-year drop in net profit. Also, Diageo fell 6.5% following a downgrade to its full-year outlook, while Maersk lost 5.1% despite posting upbeat results and Rheinmetall fell 0.5% despite posting a 20% increase in sales. On the upside, DHL jumped 5.4% to rank...
Japanese stocks weakened on Friday following an overnight plunge in US technology stocks. A stronger yen also weighed on sentiment, with chip-related stocks leading the decline. Renesas Electronics fell 3.9%, SoftBank Group slumped 7.3%, and Advantest plunged 6.1%. In the forex market, USD/JPY moved to 152.95 from 153.87 at Thursday's close in Tokyo. A stronger yen typically weighs on exporters because overseas earnings are eroded upon conversion, putting pressure on the technology and chip component sectors. Investors are now awaiting the release of financial reports and details of Prime...