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...
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday called for a single federal framework to regulate artificial intelligence, warning that differing state-level rules could impede investment and allow China to gain an edge. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said AI investment was helping make the U.S. economy the "hottest" in the world, but argued that state regulations risked weakening the sector. He criticised efforts by some states to embed diversity and inclusion standards into AI systems, claiming they would produce what he called "woke AI." "We MUST have one Federal Standard instead...
Initial jobless claims in the United States reached 232,000 for the week ending October 18, according to data from the US Department of Labor website. This represents a slight increase compared to the previous week. Meanwhile, continuing claims, which indicate the number of people still receiving unemployment benefits, reached 1.957 million in the same week, slightly higher than the 1.947 million the previous week. However, the jobless claims figures released this week are incomplete due to the government shutdown. Some unadjusted state-level jobless claims data is posted on the Department...
The global geopolitical situation is once again showing signs of escalation, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. A ship collision between the Chinese Coast Guard and the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy in the disputed South China Sea adds to the long list of lingering tensions. This incident has sparked renewed concerns about the stability of maritime trade routes vital to the regional economy. Elsewhere in the world, Russia and Belarus are holding large-scale military exercises titled Zapad 2025, seen as a sign of strengthening Russia's defense strategy amidst the ongoing conflict...
Most big emerging economies, including China, Brazil and India, can weather U.S. tariffs without excessive pain, a study by risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft showed, raising doubt about the clout of President Donald Trump's trade tools. The firm analysed the resilience of 20 of the biggest emerging markets using measures from debt levels to export-revenue reliance to gauge their ability to handle trade volatility and rapidly shifting geopolitical alliances. "Most manufacturing hubs globally are in a better position in their current baseline than you would think or give them credit for to...
The US government is scheduled to reopen on Thursday (November 13) after the longest shutdown in US history that disrupted air traffic, cut food aid to low-income Americans, and forced more than 1 million workers without pay for more than a month. However, the deep political divisions that led to the 43-day shutdown remain unresolved. The funding package contains few restrictions to restrain Republican President Donald Trump from withholding spending, in an administration that regularly challenges Congress's constitutional authority on finances. And it does not address the impending...