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 283 points or 1.2% to close at 23,544 on Thursday, ending a two-day winning streak amid losses in global stocks following a sell-off on Wall Street due to concerns over U.S. fiscal stability. Meanwhile, President Trump pushed to pass a major spending and tax-cut package through Congress. The index retreated from a near two-month high, with sharp declines in tech, property, and consumer stocks. Limiting further weakness were reports that Morgan Stanley raised its 2025 GDP forecast for China to 4.5% and 4.2% for 2024, citing easing Sino-U.S. trade tensions and expected...
Japan stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the Paper & Pulp, Transport and Communication sectors led shares lower. At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 lost 0.92%. The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. (TYO:5801), which rose 11.33% or 635.00 points to trade at 6,238.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd. (TYO:5802) added 2.61% or 68.50 points to end at 2,693.00 and Mitsubishi Logistics Corp. (TYO:9301) was up 2.33% or 25.50 points to 1,118.00 in late trade. The worst performers of the...
Europe stocks fall at open; EasyJet shares down 3% after earningsIt's ten minutes after the opening bell, and European markets are trading in negative territory. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index is 0.5% lower, with almost every sector in the red. Looking at regional bourses, the German DAX and French CAC 40 are both down by around 0.5%, while London's FTSE 100 has shed 0.4%. EasyJet reported a loss for the first six months of the year, but said current bookings indicate it will meet expectations for full-year profit. The airline said it made a pre-tax loss of £394 million ($529 million)...
Shares in Hong Kong fell 105 points or 0.4% to 23,717 on Thursday morning session, snapping gains in the prior two sessions following a tumble on Wall Street overnight as concerns mounted that a new budget bill in the U.S. would put more stress on an already large deficit. Markets retreated from their nearly two-month highs, hit the previous day, as broad-based losses across all sectors particularly property, consumer, and tech weighed on sentiment. Limiting further falls were upbeat notes from UBS highlighting a sharp revival in Hong Kong's IPO market in 2025, with year-to-date proceeds...
The Nikkei 225 Index dropped 0.8% to around 37,000 while the broader Topix Index lost 0.5% to 2,720 on Thursday, with Japanese shares hitting a two-week low and tracking a sharp selloff on Wall Street overnight. US stocks sold off on Wednesday as Treasury yields surged on concerns that a new US bill could further inflate the federal deficit. In domestic developments, Japan's core machinery orders a key leading indicator of capital investment unexpectedly surged 13% in March, far outpacing expectations for a 1.6% decline. Despite the upbeat data, sentiment was weighed down by weak economic...
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...