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 number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell to 219K in the week ending Dec. 29, 2024. That was down from the 222K estimate and from the previous weekly reading of 219K, which was revised down to 220K, the Labor Department said Thursday. Source: @Newsmaker23
Investors are expecting more gains for the U.S. stock market in 2025 after two straight standout years, fueled by a solid economy supporting corporate profits, moderating interest rates and pro-growth policies from incoming president Donald Trump. The benchmark S&P 500 is up roughly 24% year-to-date, even with a recent speed bump, and is on pace for its second straight year of gains exceeding 20%, lifted by megacap tech stocks and excitement over the business potential of artificial intelligence. Investors are more confident about the economy than this time a year ago, with consumers...
China's official Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) eased to 50.1 in December, compared to 50.3 in the previous reading. The reading came in below the market consensus of 50.3 in the reported month. The NBS Non-Manufacturing PMI rose to 52.2 in December versus November's 50.0 figure and the estimates of 50.2. Source: FXstreet
Wall Street's main stock indexes hit their lowest point in over a week on Monday, as thin trading volumes and elevated Treasury yields overshadowed the typically robust year-end period for equities.At 11:45 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 350.71 points, or 0.82%, to 42,641.50, the S&P 500 lost 52.08 points, or 0.87%, to 5,918.76 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 195.71 points, or 0.99%, to 19,526.32.All 11 S&P 500 sectors were in the red, with consumer discretionary leading declines. Growth stocks such as Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) dropped 2.2% and...
Wall Street's holiday cheer ended abruptly on Friday, with all three main benchmarks slumping in a broad-based sell-off affecting even tech and growth stocks that had driven markets higher through much of the shortened trading week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.98% lower at 1.39 p.m. ET, falling 422.63 points to 42,903.17. The index is on course to snap a five-session winning streak following a 10-session decline, its worst losing stretch since 1974. The S&P 500 slipped 1.38%, or 83.08 points, to 5,954.51, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 1.85%, or 371.34 points, to...