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...
China and the 10-member ASEAN bloc have concluded negotiations on an upgraded free-trade agreement, known as version 3.0, marking a key move to deepen Beijing's regional ties amid ongoing U.S. trade disputes. The deal, which updates a 15-year-old agreement, awaits ratification and could be signed within the year. "China stands ready to work with ASEAN to ensure the stability of global supply chains, advance shared development, and safeguard fairness and justice," said Commerce Minister Wang Wentao. He criticized U.S. trade policies, warning that "there are no winners in a tariff war or...
U.S. President Donald Trump's massive tax and spending bill cleared an important procedural hurdle in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives on Wednesday, when a gatekeeper committee approved the measure and set up a floor vote for passage to occur within hours. Republicans have been deeply divided over the bill, which would extend Trump's signature 2017 tax cuts, create new breaks for tipped income and auto loans, end many green-energy subsidies and boost spending on the military and immigration enforcement. It would pay for those changes by tightening eligibility for food and...
The US House of Representatives is set to begin voting on a Republican tax and budget bill that largely contains many of President Donald Trump's wish list items. President Trump has informally referred to the tax and budget bill as his "big, beautiful bill," prompting Republican lawmakers to officially rename the document the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act." Key Republicans have been pushing back against the bill's opponents within their own party after some hardline Republicans voiced their displeasure with the broad outlines of the bill: some feel it doesn't include enough cuts to key...
President Donald Trump's tax cut and spending bill faces a critical stress test on Wednesday as Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives try to overcome internal divisions about cuts to the Medicaid health program and tax breaks in high-cost coastal states. The gate-keeping House Rules Committee has scheduled an unusual 1 a.m. ET (0500 GMT) hearing that is expected to run well into daylight hours where members will debate details of the measure. If passed by Congress, it would reduce some health and food benefits for low-income Americans, cancel green-energy programs and provide...
British inflation jumped to a higher-than-expected annual rate of 3.5% in April from 2.6% in March, official figures showed on Wednesday. A Reuters poll of economists had pointed to a reading of 3.3% in April while the Bank of England earlier this month projected inflation of 3.4%. April saw increases in gas, electricity and water prices, alongside higher taxes on employers - all of which are likely to push up prices. Earlier this month the BoE predicted that inflation would peak at 3.5% this year. Some officials at the central bank disagree with its key assumption that the climb in...