US Stocks plunged on Friday, as investors reacted to a weak July jobs report and a fresh round of tariffs announced by President Trump. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell 1.6% and 2.2%, their steepest drops since April, while the Dow lost 542 points. Payrolls rose by just 73,000 in July, far below expectations, with sharp downward revisions to prior months signaling deeper labor market weakness. Treasury yields fell and the odds of a September Fed rate cut rose above 80%. Sentiment worsened after new tariffs of 10% to 41% were imposed on imports from key partners including Canada, India, and...
Japan stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Real Estate, Banking and Textile sectors led shares higher. At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 2.02%. The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Konica Minolta, Inc. (TYO:4902), which rose 9.95% or 39.70 points to trade at 438.60 at the close. Meanwhile, Fujifilm Holdings Corp. (TYO:4901) added 8.73% or 233.50 points to end at 2,909.50 and Hino Motors, Ltd. (TYO:7205) was up 6.55% or 29.70 points to 483.00 in late trade. The worst performers of the session were Nitori Holdings Co Ltd (TYO:9843),...
Major European stock markets advanced on Wednesday, with both the STOXX 50 and STOXX 600 gaining around 1%, building on the previous session's gain and mirroring a broadly positive global sentiment. Investors took comfort after President Trump stated he has no plans to dismiss Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, easing fears over the politicization of US monetary policy. Hopes for a de-escalation in trade tensions between the US and China also lifted sentiment, following remarks from both President Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. On the corporate front, shares of SAP jumped...
Hong Kong stocks surged 338 points or 1.6% to a near 10-week peak of 21,904 in Wednesday morning trade, rising for a third straight session. The rally followed a rebound on Wall Street after U.S. President Trump softened his tone on Fed Chair Powell, despite recently posting, "Powell's termination cannot come fast enough!" Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he expects the U.S. and China to begin de-escalating trade tensions "in the very near future." On the domestic front, reports suggested Chinese "national team" and retail investors stepped in to support mainland equities....
The Nikkei 225 Index rallied 2.2% to around 34,980 while the broader Topix Index jumped 2.3% to 2,590 on Wednesday, with Japanese shares hitting a three-week high and tracking a strong rebound on Wall Street. Those moves came as US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent signaled a potential easing in the US-China trade dispute, calling the current tariff standoff "unsustainable." Later in the day, President Donald Trump reinforced market optimism by confirming he has no plans to remove Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, helping to stabilize sentiment around central bank independence and policy...
Asia-Pacific markets climbed Wednesday, after all three key benchmarks on Wall Street advanced overnight on optimism that U.S.-China trade tensions could ease. This comes after U.S. President Donald Trump indicated that final tariffs on Chinese exports to the U.S. "won't be anywhere near as high as 145%." However, he added that the duties "won't be 0%." Trump also said he has "no intention" to fire Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell before his term ends, alleviating investors' concerns over the central bank's independence. Hong Kong stocks led gains in the region, with the Hang Seng...