Wall Street's three major indexes managed to close Tuesday's choppy session higher, marking quarterly and monthly gains, even as investors braced for a U.S. government shutdown, which would delay key economic reports and muddy the Federal Reserve's interest rate policy outlook. With investors having bet for some time on a spate of further Fed rate cuts, the benchmark S&P 500, the tech-heavy Nasdaq and the Dow all gained for the second quarter in a row. For the S&P 500 and the Dow, it also marked their fifth straight monthly gain while the Nasdaq registered its sixth straight monthly...
The Hang Seng rose 58 points or 0.2% to close at 26,447 on Monday, marking its second straight gain and tracking an uptick in U.S. futures ahead of an expected Fed rate cut this week. While markets expect a 25bps reduction, President Trump has pushed for a larger move, calling the timing "ideal." Hong Kong shares hovered near a four-year high, supported by ongoing U.S.-China trade talks in Madrid that enter day two today. However, gains were capped by weak August data from China, with factory output, retail sales, credit, exports, and fixed asset investment all underperforming. Tech led...
European stocks started the week in positive territory, with the STOXX 50 up 0.6% and the STOXX 600 rising 0.3% to reach three-week highs, as traders brace for a busy week of central bank monetary policy decisions. The Federal Reserve is widely expected to resume interest rate cuts, with a 25 bps reduction fully priced in. Investors will also be watching policy updates from the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, and the Bank of Canada. Meanwhile, attention remains on France after Fitch downgraded the country's credit rating last Friday, citing rising government debt, growing political...
Hong Kong stocks rose 93 points, or 0.4%, to 26,480 in early trade on Monday, marking gains for the second session. Sentiment was supported by a modest rise in U.S. futures ahead of the Fed's policy meeting later this week, where the central bank is widely expected to cut rates by 25bps, though some traders are betting on a deeper half-point reduction amid cooling labor markets and mild inflation. Meanwhile, U.S.-China trade talks in Madrid entered their second day, signaling an intensification of diplomacy between the two countries. Tech and consumer names led the gains. However, the...
Asia-Pacific markets opened mixed as investors kept an eye on the talks between the U.S. and China in Spain, and awaited a slate of data from Beijing. U.S. and Chinese officials began talks in Madrid Sunday to discuss key national security, economic, and trade issues, including the upcoming deadline to divest Chinese short video app TikTok and U.S. tariffs. Delegations led by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met with their counterparts, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and China's top trade negotiator, Li Chenggang. Meanwhile, China is...
The Nasdaq Composite notched a perfect week of closing highs on Friday as investors took signs of weakening jobs and tame inflation to mean the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates next week. The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed 0.44% higher to settle at 22,141.10, led by a surge in Tesla shares. The broad market S&P 500 hovered around the flatline, down just 0.05% to finish at 6,584.29. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 273.78 points, or 0.59%, to close at 45,834.22. Having each closed at record levels Thursday, with the Dow finishing above 46,000 for the first time, the...