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...
A measure of underlying US inflation remained firm in October, underscoring the ongoing risks Federal Reserve officials face in trying to achieve their target. The so-called core consumer price index — which excludes food and energy costs — increased 0.3% for a third month and 3.3% from a year ago, Bureau of Labor Statistics figures showed Wednesday. Economists see the core gauge as a better indicator of the inflation trend than the overall CPI. That measure, which includes food and energy, rose 0.2% for a fourth month and 2.6% from a year before, marking...
Japan's wholesale inflation accelerated in October as a weaker yen pushed up import costs for some goods, data showed on Wednesday, complicating the central bank's decision on how quickly to raise interest rates. The corporate goods price index (CGPI), which measures the prices companies charge each other for goods and services, rose 3.4% in October from a year earlier, Bank of Japan data showed, above market forecasts for a 3.0% increase. That followed a 3.1% increase in September. The yen-based import price index fell 2.2% in October from a year earlier, slowing from a 2.5% decline in...
The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits rose to 221,000 in the week ending Nov. 3, 2024. That was above the 223 estimate and up from the previous weekly reading of 218, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Source: @Newsmaker23
Economic activity in the US services sector accelerated in October, with the ISM Services PMI rising to 56 from 54.9 in September. This was higher than the market forecast of 53.8. Other details from the report showed that the Prices Paid Index, a component of inflation, edged down to 58.1 from 59.4, while the Employment Index improved to 53 from 48.1. Assessing the survey findings, "concerns over political uncertainty were again more prominent than in the previous month," said Steve Miller, Chair of the Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) Services Business Survey Committee. "The...
The business activity in the US manufacturing sector continued to contract at an accelerating pace in October, with the ISM Manufacturing PMI falling to 46.5 from 47.2 in September. This reading came in below the market expectation of 47.6. The Employment Index of the PMI survey edged slightly higher to 44.4 from 43.9 in the same period and the Prices Paid Index rose sharply to 54.8 from 48.3. Finally, the New Orders Index improved to 47.1 from 46.1. Source: Fxstreet
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...