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...
US job openings fell in July to the lowest in 10 months, adding to other data that shows a gradually diminishing appetite for workers amid heightened policy uncertainty. Available positions decreased to 7.18 million from a downwardly revised 7.36 million reading in June, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data published Wednesday. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 7.38 million openings. Source: Bloomberg
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will urge stronger pressure on Moscow when he meets with allies in Denmark and France on Wednesday after Russian forces launched a massive airstrike on Ukraine, damaging energy and transport infrastructure. Russia launched more than 500 drones and dozens of missiles, hitting infrastructure at 14 locations across the country and injuring four railway workers, regional and Ukrainian military officials said. "This is clearly a demonstrative attack by Russia. Only because of the lack of adequate pressure, especially on Russia's war economy, does this aggression...
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will release the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) on Wednesday. This publication will provide data on changes in the number of job openings in July, along with the number of layoffs and resignations. Markets expect the number of job openings to decline slightly to 7.4 million in July, compared to 7.437 million in June. The JOLTS will be released a few days before another important employment report, the August Nonfarm Payrolls data, which will be released on Friday. The latest BLS US employment report showed that nonfarm payrolls rose...
Australia's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose 0.6% QoQ in the second quarter (Q2) of 2025 compared with the 0.3% growth in the first quarter (revised from 0.2%), the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed on Wednesday. This reading came in stronger than the expectations of 0.5% expansion. The annual second-quarter GDP grew by 1.8%, compared with the 1.4% growth in Q1 (revised from 1.3%), while above the consensus of a 1.6% increase. Market reaction to Australia's GDP data The upbeat Australia GDP report provides some support to the Australian Dollar (AUD). The AUD/USD pair is...
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday doubled down on his criticism of India, calling trade ties with the country "a totally one sided disaster!" after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited China to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit. Trump in a post on Truth Social also said that India had offered to cut its tariffs to zero, but it was "getting late," and that the country should have done so "years ago," without elaborating on when such an offer was made. This comes against the backdrop of the U.S. imposing 50% tariffs on the country, including secondary duties 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...