Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said on Thursday he continues to believe the U.S. central bank should cut interest rates at the end of this month amid mounting risks to the economy and the strong likelihood that tariff-induced inflation will not drive a persistent rise in price pressures. "It makes sense to cut the FOMC's policy rate by 25 basis points two weeks from now," Waller told a gathering of the Money Marketeers of New York University. "I see the hard and soft data on economic activity and the labor market as consistent: The economy is still growing, but its momentum...
The Hang Seng fell 177 points, or 0.9%, to close at 19,064 on Friday, down for a fifth straight session and hitting its lowest in more than six weeks as sectors broadly lost ground. Nervous traders reacted to the People's Bank of China's decision to halt purchases of government bonds that sent yields soaring. Investors are cautiously awaiting China's December trade data, due later in the week. Exports grew less than expected in November, while imports unexpectedly shrank. Meanwhile, U.S. futures pointed to a weaker open on Wall Street, with traders preparing for the NFP data later in the...
Japanese stocks fell after the close on Friday, as losses in the Shipping, Electric Power and Insurance sectors led shares lower. At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was down 1.04%. The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Advantest Corp. (TYO:6857), which rose 5.12% or 506.00 points to trade at 10,380.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd. (TYO:3382) rose 4.86% or 115.50 points to close at 2,490.00 and Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. (TYO:5801) gained 3.48% or 244.00 points to 7,259.00 in late trade. The worst performers on the session were Mitsui...
The Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.9% to below 39,300 while the broader Topix INdex lost 0.6% to 2,720 on Friday, with both benchmarks sliding for the third straight session and heading toward their second straight weekly drop. Investor sentiment turned cautious ahead of the US jobs report, which could influence the Federal Reserve's monetary policy outlook for the year. Global stocks also faced pressure on Thursday after the release of the latest Fed minutes, which pointed to a potential slowdown in the pace of policy easing due to ongoing concerns over inflation. Domestically, Japan's real...
Asia-Pacific markets mostly fell Friday, with investors assessing November pay and household spending out from Japan. Real household spending in Japan fell 0.4% year on year in November, a softer fall compared to the 0.6% decline expected by a Reuters poll of economists. The fall was also less than the 1.3% decline seen in October. The average real income per household stood at 514,409 yen ($3,252.98) in November, up 0.7% from the previous yearJapan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.41% on its open, with the broad based Topix seeing a smaller loss of 0.27%.South Korea's Kospi was the only outlier,...
European stocks edged higher, with the STOXX 50 rising 0.2% and the STOXX 600 up 0.4%, recovering from earlier declines. Mining stocks led gains, rising 1.5%, while retail stocks trimmed losses to end 0.8% lower. Bavarian Nordic shares jumped 4.8% after announcing a DKK 150 million ($20.7 million) share buyback. Meanwhile, Danish shipping giant Moller-Maersk dropped 5.8% following a tentative US dockworkers' labor deal that eased strike fears, triggering a sell-off in shipping stocks. Stabilizing US Treasury yields and European borrowing costs brought some relief to markets, but concerns...
According to a statement by the Federal Reserve (Fed), Fed Chair Jerome Powell met with United States (US) President Donald Trump on Thursday, where the head of the Fed reiterated that the Fed's...
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) maintained its cash rate at 4.1% during its April meeting, holding borrowing costs unchanged after slashing 25 bps in the February meeting, aligning with market...