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...
The ADP report showed private employment fell in September; economists had expected a rise. Private employment fell 32,000 (estimated +51,000) in September compared with a revised -3,000 in August, according to the ADP Research Institute and the Stanford Digital Economy Lab. Estimates ranged from +25,000 to +80,000, according to 28 economists. Employment in the goods-producing sector fell 3,000. Employment in the services sector fell 28,000. (alg) Source: Bloomberg
The U.S. government shut down much of its operations on Wednesday as deep partisan divisions prevented Congress and the White House from reaching a funding deal, setting off what could be a long, grueling standoff that could lead to the loss of thousands of federal jobs. There was no clear path out of the impasse, while agencies warned that the 15th government shutdown since 1981 would halt the release of a closely watched September employment report, opens new tab, slow air travel, opens new tab, suspend scientific research, withhold pay from U.S. troops and lead to the furlough of 750,000...
Federal Reserve (Fed) Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee noted on Tuesday that "short" government shutdowns tend to have a limited impact on the broader economy. The statements come at a time when the US government is barreling into a funding gap and subsequent shutdown. Goolsbee also noted that he hopes tariffs result in a one-time inflation bump, rather than a drawn out inflationary pressure boost. Goolsbee's tariff comments come just after the Trump administration announced further targetted tariffs across a wide range of goods including cabinets and lumber. Short government...
U.S. President Donald Trump will meet with his Argentine counterpart Javier Milei in two weeks, Argentina said on Tuesday, as Milei seeks to clinch a credit swap line from the U.S. that has rankled some Republicans as the South American nation offloaded billions of dollars in soy to China. The two will meet at the White House on October 14, during the week the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are set to convene in Washington. The Argentine foreign ministry called the meeting a "new opportunity to continue strengthening the strategic partnership between both...
U.S. President Donald Trump warned congressional Democrats on Tuesday that allowing the federal government to shut down at midnight would allow his administration to take "irreversible" actions including shutting down programs important to them. "We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible, that are bad for them and irreversible by them, like cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like," Trump said in remarks to reporters from the White House Oval Office. "You all know Russell Vought," Trump added, referring to the...