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...
Wall Street's holiday cheer ended abruptly on Friday, with all three main benchmarks slumping in a broad-based sell-off affecting even tech and growth stocks that had driven markets higher through much of the shortened trading week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.98% lower at 1.39 p.m. ET, falling 422.63 points to 42,903.17. The index is on course to snap a five-session winning streak following a 10-session decline, its worst losing stretch since 1974. The S&P 500 slipped 1.38%, or 83.08 points, to 5,954.51, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 1.85%, or 371.34 points, to...
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell to 219K in the week ending Dec. 22, 2024. That was down from the 223K estimate and from the previous weekly reading of 220K before being revised down to 224K, the Labor Department said Thursday. Source: @Newsmaker23
Sales of new U.S. single-family homes rebounded in November after being depressed by hurricanes in the prior month, but rising mortgage rates could hamper sales next year. New home sales jumped 5.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 664,000 units last month, the Commerce Department's Census Bureau said on Monday. The sales pace for October was revised higher to a rate of 627,000 units from the previously reported 610,000 units. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast that new home sales, which account for about 15% of U.S. home sales, would rebound to a rate of 660,000 units. New...
The number of Americans filing new applications for jobless benefits fell more than expected last week, almost reversing the prior two weeks' increases and suggesting that a gradual labor market slowdown remained in place. Other data on Thursday showed the economy grew faster than previously estimated in the third quarter, driven by robust consumer spending. The upbeat reports came a day after the Federal Reserve delivered a third consecutive interest rate cut, but projected only two rate reductions in 2025, citing the economy's continued resilience and still-elevated inflation. Fed Chair...
The US economy expanded at a faster pace in the third quarter than previously estimated, owing in part to to stronger consumer spending and exports. Gross domestic product increased at a 3.1% annualized rate in the third quarter, the third estimate of the figures from the Bureau of Economic Analysis showed Thursday. That compared to a previous projection of 2.8%. Consumer spending was marked up to a 3.7% pace from 3.5%. The numbers reinforce the notion that the economy is still powering ahead despite expectations among forecasters for an eventual slowdown. The report comes...
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...