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",...
Indonesia's government sees economic growth reaching at least 5.2% next year as it continues to focus on improving food production, energy security and people's wellbeing, its finance minister told parliament on Tuesday. Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said economic growth in 2026 would be between 5.2% and 5.8% next year with the bottom end of the range the same as 2025's growth target. "We will reach the target in 2026 by maintaining people's purchasing power... development of natural resources downstream industry and improving the investment climate, as well as human resources,"...
China cut benchmark lending rates for the first time since October on Tuesday, while major state banks lowered deposit rates as authorities work to ease monetary policy to help buffer the economy from the impact of the Sino-U.S. trade war. The widely expected rate cuts are aimed at stimulating consumption and loan growth as the world's No. 2 economy softens, while still protecting commercial lenders' shrinking profit margins. Still, the size of the rate reductions was mild and reflected the incremental pace of monetary easing in recent years and what analysts interpreted as some wariness...
Ministerial level trade talks between Japan and the U.S. are set to take place later this week– marking the third round of high-level talks between the nations, Japan's Kyodo News agency reported on Tuesday. Kyodo reported that Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's top trade negotiator and minister of economic revitalization, will fly to Washington by Friday to engage in a third round of high-level talks. Kyodo cited comments from a U.S. official. Separately, Akazawa said in a press conference on Tuesday that working level talks took place between Washington and Tokyo on Monday, and that high-level...
China on Monday accused the US of undermining the two countries' preliminary trade agreement after the US issued an industry warning against using Chinese chips that singled out Huawei, per CNBC. According to a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce, the US Commerce Department's advice is "discriminatory" and "market distorting," prompting Beijing to "demand" that the administration "correct its mistakes." China Slams U.S. Huawei Chip Ban as Threat to Trade TruceChina Indicators China has strongly criticized a U.S. directive targeting certain high-end Huawei chips, saying it...
President Donald Trump said that Ukraine and Russia would begin talks "immediately" on ending their war after a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday. "Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War," Trump said in a social-media post. "The conditions for that will be negotiated between the two parties, as it can only be, because they know details of a negotiation that nobody else would be aware of." The US president said he had also briefed European leaders on his two-hour call...
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...