US stocks advanced on Thursday, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones each up 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.6%. The move followed a volatile session the day before, as investors focused on corporate earnings and the AI rally regained momentum after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing raised its revenue-growth target. Communication services, technology, and utilities led the gains, while financials underperformed. Among major movers, Nvidia rose 1.4%, Alphabet added 1.5%, Broadcom gained 1.7%, and Micron Technology advanced 2.3%. Charles Schwab was up 0.5% after an earnings beat and...
The U.S. dollar slid to two-week lows against the yen on Wednesday after data showed private-sector jobs in the world's largest economy contracted last month, boosting expectations the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates two more times this year. Against the euro and sterling, the dollar fell to one-week troughs in the wake of the jobs data. Data showed that U.S. private employment shrank by 32,000 jobs last month after a downwardly revised 3,000 decline in August, according to the ADP National Employment Report on Wednesday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast private employment...
EUR/USD is steady late during the North American session as investors digest a soft jobs report and shrugs off the shutdown of the US government. The lack of an agreement between the White House and Democrats would prolong the shutdown and delay US economic data releases. The pair trades at 1.1720 unchanged. US ADP National Employment Change in September was dismal and highlighted the weakness of the labor market. Business activity in the manufacturing sector in the US, improved but contracted for the seventh straight month. Regarding political turmoil in the US, Vice-President JD Bance...
The British Pound (GBP) advances sharply against the US Dollar (USD) on Wednesday, with GBP/USD climbing to a one-week high, reaching its strongest level since September 24, as the Greenback remains under broad pressure amid a weaker-than-expected ADP Employment Change report, the ongoing United States (US) government shutdown, and mounting bets on further Federal Reserve (Fed) interest rate cuts. At the time of writing, GBP/USD is trading around 1.3512, extending its winning streak for a fourth day with a gain of 0.50%. Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the Greenback's...
USD/CHF continues to trudge its way through familiar technical territory, with price action holding stubbornly just south of the 0.8000 major handle. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) continues to fight back against market expectations of a return to negative interest rates, with Swiss inflation already riding too close to zero to allow the SNB to make sharp policy moves. The US federal government has hit a slight policy snag after Congress failed to pass an interim budget spending bill that would finance government operations at the start of the federal government's fiscal year, which begins...
Oil prices slid for a third day in a row to a 16-week low on Wednesday as a U.S. government shutdown fed worries about the global economy, while traders expected more oil supply to come on the market with a planned output boost by OPEC+ next month. Brent crude futures fell 64 cents, or 1.0%, to $65.39 a barrel at 1:03 p.m. EDT (1703 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 55 cents, or 0.9%, to $61.82. That put Brent on track for its lowest settlement since June 5, while WTI was headed for its lowest close since May 30. U.S. oil production growth will stall if prices stay...