Investors cheered Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's Jackson Hole address, which gave a green light to buy risky assets on the hope the central bank is ready to cut rates, but took his dovish message with a note of caution as they see a risk of stagflation ahead and worry markets are over-optimistic. In his final address as Fed chair at the Jackson Hole, Wyoming, economic symposium, Powell hinted at a September interest rate cut but stopped short of committing, striking a careful balance between mounting job-market risks and lingering inflation worries. The speech on Friday came amid...
Stocks climbed Friday to kick off November as Amazon led big technology stocks into the green and traders looked past a disappointing jobs report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 467 points, or 1.1%. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 1% and 1.3%, respectively. Amazon rallied more than 6% as strength in the cloud and advertising businesses propelled the ecommerce giant above Wall Street's earnings expectations. Intel popped 5.3% after exceeding analysts' forecasts for revenue and offering strong guidance. The two stocks improved sentiment following some notable earnings...
The Hang Seng added 189 points or 0.9% to end at 20,506 on the first trading day of the month, snapping a two-day decline as factory activity in China recovered last month. Beijing's recent stimulus measures began to show a positive impact ahead of next week's National People's Congress session, which could launch more initiatives. On the monetary front, the PBoC injected CNY 500 billion via reverse repos late Thursday to keep ample liquidity nearing year-end. Property, consumers, and financials drove the strength, with notable rises from Akeso Inc. (8.4%), Tencent Holdings (3.7%), and...
European equity markets are set for a positive open on Friday after three consecutive days of heavy selling, as sentiment is starting to stabilize. Investors continue to assess the region's economic outlook and monetary policy. Earlier this week, stocks faced pressure from disappointing earnings reports from major U.S. tech companies, which negatively impacted market sentiment. In addition, investors are preparing for the upcoming U.S. presidential election and the Federal Reserve's latest decision next week. On a more concerning note, data released on Thursday showed that inflation in the...
The Nikkei 225 index fell 2.63% to close at 38,054, while the broader Topix index dropped 1.9% to 2,644 on Friday, extending losses from the previous session and mirroring declines on Wall Street on disappointing corporate news from Microsoft and Meta Platforms. Local stocks also came under pressure as the yen rose following a less dovish statement from the Bank of Japan and signs of easing price pressures in the U.S. The stronger yen hurt the earnings outlook for Japan's export-heavy industries. Technology stocks were particularly hard hit, with significant losses for Advantest (-4.4%),...
The Hang Seng Index opened 0.3% higher at 20,376.93 in Hong Kong. Meituan contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 2.3%. China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd. had the largest increase, rising 3.1%. In early trading, 41 of 82 shares rose, while 37 fell; 3 of 4 sectors were higher, led by finance stocks. Source : Bloomberg
President Donald Trump said he would fire Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors if she does not resign her post over mortgage-fraud accusations from a top...
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...