The Hang Seng Index reversed its downward trend in Hong Kong on Thursday (February 12th), weakening by around 0.9% to around 27,000 after a strong session earlier. This decline halted the momentum of the short term rally, as investors began to reduce risk in large cap stocks. Among the index's contributors, Tencent was a major drag, with its shares falling by around 2.3%, putting pressure on the technology sector, which has recently been a driving force behind market gains. Weakness in large cap companies like this typically quickly impacts sentiment due to their significant weighting in...
Employment at US companies rose in October, signaling stabilization in the labor market after two straight months of declines. Private-sector jobs increased by 42,000 after a revised 29,000 decline in the previous month, according to ADP Research data released Wednesday. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists was for a gain of 30,000. (alg) Source: Bloomberg
American consumers struggling to access food assistance payments due to the government shutdown are unable to fill their shopping carts, and that's "hurtful," according to the company behind Stop & Shop and Food Lion grocery stores. The US government needs to quickly find a solution to the longest government shutdown on record "because it's very painful for people that nutritional support is no longer there," said Frans Muller, CEO of Ahold Delhaize, in an interview with Bloomberg TV. While Ahold hasn't seen a drop in sales due to the issues affecting the program that provides support...
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) is scheduled to release its October Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) on Wednesday. The report, a trusted measure of business performance and widely considered a leading indicator of economic activity, is expected to reflect moderate expansion in the services sector. Due to delays and cancellations of key macroeconomic data releases due to the ongoing US government shutdown, the ISM Services PMI report could significantly impact the US Dollar (USD) valuation in the near term. What to expect from the ISM Services PMI report? Markets expect...
US President Donald Trump announced tariff cuts on fentanyl-related products from China, reducing them from 20% to 10%. This decision is part of an agreement reached at a summit in South Korea last October. This move aims to ease trade tensions between the world's two largest economies. Trump also announced a freeze on reciprocal tariffs imposed on Chinese goods. This freeze will remain in effect, providing some relief to companies engaged in international trade with China. This policy is expected to help ease trade tensions that have persisted for the past few years. This tariff cut will...
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...