World markets kicked off November in an upbeat mood, riffing off buoyant company earnings and calmer trade relations while batting away OPEC's planned end to output hikes and this week's Supreme Court hearing on President Donald Trump's tariffs. Following last week's meeting between Trump and China's President Xi Jinping in South Korea, the White House announced Saturday that China would lift export controls on rare earths and end probes into U.S. chip firms. But Trump said AI giant Nvidia's most advanced chips would be reserved for U.S. companies and kept out of China and other...
President Donald Trump said he was reluctant to continue ratcheting up tariffs on China because it could stall trade between the two countries, and insisted Beijing had repeatedly reached out in a bid to broker a deal. Trump, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday, said officials he believed represented the Chinese leader Xi Jinping had sought to start talks. But he repeatedly sidestepped direct questions about whether he and Xi had been in direct contact. "I have a very good relationship with President Xi, and I think it's going to continue. And I would say they have reached...
Initial jobless claims in the United States fell by 9,000 from the previous week to 215,000 on the second week of April, contrasting with market expectations that they would rise by 1,000 to 225,000, to mark the lowest number of new claims in over two months. The result continued to reflect a historically tight labor market in the US to extend the momentum from the latest jobs report. In the meantime, continuing claims rose by 41,000 from to 1,885,000 in the prior week, extending their volatile momentum. Source: Trading Economics
The Trump administration confirmed Wednesday morning that the base tariff on products imported into the U.S. from China remains at 145%, after a previously released fact sheet caused confusion in Asian hours. The White House, in a fact sheet on critical minerals released Tuesday afternoon Washington time (early Wednesday in Asia) included language that said China "now faces tariffs of up to 245% on imports into the United States as a result of its retaliatory actions." That language was picked up by some Asian media outlets and Asia-based market analysts who, in the overnight Washington...
Retail Sales in the United States (US) rose by 1.4% in March to $734.9 billion, the US Census Bureau announced on Wednesday. This reading followed the 0.2% increase recorded in February and came in slightly better than the market expectation for an increase 1.3%. On a yearly basis, Retail Sales were up 4.6%. "Total sales for the January 2025 through March 2025 period were up 4.1% from the same period," the press release read. "Retail trade sales were up 1.4% from February 2025, and up 4.6% from last year." Source: FXStreet
British inflation slowed to its weakest in three months in March and other measures watched by the Bank of England cooled too, but higher bills and employer costs will pressure prices soon against the backdrop of U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war. Inflation slowed to an annual rate of 2.6% in March from 2.8% in February, below expectations of 2.7% in a BoE forecast and a Reuters poll of economists. A price drop for computer games and falling fuel prices helped bring down the headline rate although the prices of clothes rose strongly after a surprise fall in February, the Office for...
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...
As the U.S. government shutdown disrupts federal employee paychecks across the country, it also exacerbates the financial hardship of attorneys who represent the poorest members of society when they...