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 Korea's Kospi climbed 0.83%, and the small-cap Kosdaq jumped 0.65%. Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 added 0.41%. Futures for Hong Kong's Hang Seng index stood at 26,464, higher than its last close of 26,086.32. Equities in several parts of the world have been rallying as easing inflation pressures and expectations for U.S. rate cuts boost investor sentiment. "Momentum and the promise of...
The HCOB Flash Eurozone Manufacturing PMI increased to 47.3 in February 2025 from 46.6 in January, beating forecasts of 47, preliminary estimates showed. The reading pointed to the weakest downturn in the manufacturing sector in nine months, as production continued to fall although the pace of contraction was the weakest since May 2024. New business continued to fall and there was a marked reduction in manufacturing workforce numbers. Eurozone manufacturers continued to lower their purchasing activity, in response to weak customer demand. The latest reduction was marked, despite being the...
Federal Reserve officials are taking note of what they see as rising inflation risks and the uncertain impact of President Donald Trump's trade, immigration and other policies. On Thursday, several signaled they still feel that cooling U.S. inflation will in time allow the U.S. central bank to deliver further interest rate cuts; one said that current conditions call for holding rates steady, and gave no indication of when, or whether, she felt cuts would be needed. "Going forward, I consider it is appropriate to hold the federal funds rate in place for some time, given the balance of risks...
Applications for US unemployment benefits were little changed last week, indicating solid demand for workers. Initial claims increased by 5,000 to 219,000 in the week ended Feb. 15, according to Labor Department data released Thursday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 215,000 applications.Source: Bloomberg
The minutes of the US Federal Reserve's (Fed) monetary policy meeting on January 28-29 will be released on Wednesday (2/19) at 19:00 GMT. Policymakers decided to keep the policy interest rate in the range of 4.25%-4.5% for the first meeting of 2025. However, the central bank removed its previous statement that inflation had "made progress" towards its 2% target, and instead stated that the pace of price increases "remains high." The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted unanimously to keep the policy rate unchanged. The statement showed that officials expressed confidence that progress...
United Kingdom's Office for National Statistics will publish the January CPI data on Wednesday.The annual UK headline and core CPI inflation are expected to increase in January.The Pound Sterling braces for volatility on the UK CPI report data release amid a prudent BoE.The high-impact Consumer Price Index (CPI) data from the United Kingdom (UK) for January will be published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Wednesday at 07:00 GMT. The Pound Sterling (GBP) could witness a big reaction to the UK CPI inflation report, which will likely have a strong bearing on the Bank of...
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...
Less than four months ago, President Donald Trump met with Qatar's leader, praised his magnificent palace, and signed a comprehensive defense agreement with the Gulf monarchy, a key ally that hosts...