The ISM Services PMI rose to 52.4 in October 2025 from 50 in September, beating forecasts of 50.8, pointing to the strongest expansion in the services sector since February. Both business activity (54.3 vs 49.9) and new orders (56.2 vs 50.4) rebounded while the continued contraction in employmet (48.2 vs 47.2) shows a lack of confidence in the continued strength of the economy. "There was no indication of widespread layoffs or reductions in force, but the federal government shutdown was mentioned several times as impacting business activity and generating concerns for future layoffs",...
United States (US) President Donald Trump swung for the fences on Monday, touching on a broad range of subjects during a joint press conference with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung. In between delivering remarks on the Korean peninsula, Donald Trump fashioned himself as the ultimate peace broker for multiple countries, and mused about having South Korea voluntarily give up sovereign land to the US. President Trump also touched on international trade, insisting that US Crude Oil products are critical to South Korea, which overwhelmingly has its energy demands met by trade with China and...
Sales of new single-family homes in the United States eased by 0.6% from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 652,000 units in July of 2025, trimming the revised 4.1% increase in the earlier period and above market expectations of a 630,000 sold homes. Regionally, sales fell sharply in the Mid-west (-6.6% to 85,000) and the South (-3.5% to 388,000), offsetting growth in the West (11.7% to 153,00). In turn, new home sales remained unchanged in the Northeast (at 26,000). In the meantime, the number of unsold homes on the market also fell by 0.6% to 499,000,...
Israeli strikes on Nasser hospital in Gaza on Monday killed at least 15 people, including four journalists, one of whom worked for Reuters, Palestinian health officials said. Cameraman Hussam al-Masri, a Reuters contractor, was killed in the first strike, according to the officials. Photographer Hatem Khaled, who was also a Reuters contractor, was wounded in a second strike on the hospital, they said. Witnesses said the second strike took place after rescue workers, journalists and other people had rushed to the site of the initial attack. The Reuters live video feed from the hospital,...
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed optimism about improving relations between Russia and the United States during a visit to a nuclear research center on Friday. Putin stated there was "light at the end of the tunnel" in Russia-U.S. relations following his recent summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Alaska. "With the arrival of President Trump, I think that a light at the end of the tunnel has finally loomed. And now we had a very good, meaningful and frank meeting in Alaska," Putin said. The Russian president described last week's summit as productive and indicated that...
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he has not been in contact with Russia regarding potential peace talks, although his dialogue with the US is ongoing. Speaking at a joint press conference with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in Kyiv on Friday, Zelenskiy said he did not want to set conditions for potential peace talks with Vladimir Putin because he could use them as an excuse to continue the war. There are "two layers" of security guarantees being discussed, Rutte said at the same event. The first involves strengthening Ukraine's military and the second involves guarantees...
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...
American consumers struggling to access food assistance payments due to the government shutdown are unable to fill their shopping carts, and that's "hurtful," according to the company behind Stop...