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 143 points, or 0.6%, to close at 23,892 on Friday, extending losses for a second session as Wall Street futures slumped and global markets turned red following Israel's military strikes on Iran the previous day. Rising tensions in the Middle East added a new layer of uncertainty to already fragile global markets, which are still under pressure from President Trump's aggressive and unpredictable trade policies. The index moved away from a nearly three-month high, as most sectors declined. The technology index fell 1.7%, led by sharp declines in Horizon Robotics (-4.3%),...
Japan stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Paper & Pulp, Transport and Communication sectors led shares lower. At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 declined 0.92%. The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Nexon Co Ltd (TYO:3659), which rose 8.37% or 220.00 points to trade at 2,850.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Bandai Namco Holdings Inc (TYO:7832) added 4.34% or 201.00 points to end at 4,829.00 and Aeon Co., Ltd. (TYO:8267) was up 3.85% or 165.00 points to 4,449.00 in late trade. The worst performers of the session were LY Corp (TYO:4689), which...
(Hong Kong) The escalating tensions in the Middle East have impacted the financial markets, with the Hang Seng Index opening lower by 75 points or 0.31%, standing at 23,959 points. Concurrently, the H-share index dropped by 41 points or 0.47%, reaching 8,688 points, while the technology index also experienced a decline of 50 points or 0.95%, settling at 5,280 points. In the tech sector, there was a general softening trend, with Tencent showing a minor increase of 0.1%, while Alibaba witnessed a decrease of 1.5%. Similarly, Meituan fell by 1.2%, Xiaomi Group dropped by 0.5%, and Kuaishou...
Japanese equities slipped on Friday despite Wall Street's gains, driven by cooling US inflation and anticipation of Federal Reserve rate cuts. The Nikkei 225 opened 42.84 points lower at 38,324.93. Investors are awaiting Japan's revised industrial production report for April; the preliminary reading showed a 0.70% increase year-over-year. Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba believes there's a significant gap in trade talks with the US, and he has no immediate timeline for an agreement, according to Bloomberg News on Thursday. This comes ahead of his anticipated meeting with...
Asia-Pacific markets were set to open higher Friday, tracking gains on Wall Street following a batch of economic data that pointed toward a solid U.S. economy. Futures for Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 in Chicago were at 38,220 while their counterpart in Osaka last traded at 38,170 compared with the index's Thursday close of 38,173.09 Futures for Hong Kong's Hang Seng index last traded at 24,178, compared with the HSI's last close of 24,035.38. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was also set to start the day higher, with futures tied to the benchmark at 8,605, compared to the index's close of...
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...