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...
Australia's Unemployment Rate was steady at 4.1% in May from 4.1% in April, official data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed on Thursday. The reading was in line with market consensus. Furthermore, Australia's Employment Change came in at -2.5K in May from 87.6K in April (revised from 89K), compared to consensus estimates of 25K. The participation rate in Australia eased to 67.0% in May, compared to 67.1% in April. Meanwhile, Full-Time Employment increased by 38.7K in the same period from 58.6K in the previous reading (revised from 59.5K). Part-Time Employment...
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday kept interest rates steady amid expectations of higher inflation and lower economic growth ahead, and still pointed to two reductions later this year. With markets expecting no chance of a central bank move this week, the Federal Open Market Committee kept its key borrowing rate targeted in a range between 4.25%-4.5%, where it has been since December. Along with the rate decision, the committee indicated, through its closely watched "dot plot," that two cuts by the end of 2025 are still on the table. However, it lopped off one reduction for both 2026 and...
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that Fed policy makers expect inflation in goods prices to go up over the course of the summer as the impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs work their way to U.S. consumers. "We've had goods inflation just moving up a bit," Powell told a news conference after the Fed held rates unchanged. "We do expect to see more of that over the course of the summer." Powell said it takes time for tariffs to work through the goods chain of distribution, noting many goods being sold by retailers were imported months before tariffs were...
The Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said on Wednesday that the prospect of a new Canada-U.S. trade deal offers hope that tariffs will be removed, but cautioned that inflation could rise if tariffs stayed in place. U.S. President Donald Trump and Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney this week agreed to reach a trade deal between the two countries in 30 days that could possibly resolve a trade conflict triggered by U.S. tariffs and the subsequent Canadian counter duties. "Restoring open trade between our countries is critical to jobs and growth in Canada," said Macklem in a speech in the...
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell to 245,000 in the week ended June 15, 2025. The figure was lower than the 246,000 estimate and the previous weekly revised 250,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. Source: Newsmaker23