Wall Street's indexes closed at record highs on Wednesday, buoyed by strong sector performance and optimism that the US government shutdown will be brief. Investors shrugged off the first day of the shutdown and weaker-than-expected private payrolls data, with the S&P 500 gaining 0.3%, the Nasdaq 100 rising 0.5%, and the Dow adding 43 points. Health-care stocks led the advance, driven by sharp gains in Regeneron (+6.7%), Moderna (+6.8%), Eli Lilly (+8.2%), and AbbVie (+5.5%), while optimism over Pfizer's (+2.2%) deal with the White House on Medicaid drug pricing provided additional...
Hong Kong stocks increased 89 points or 0.3 to 25,191 in early trade on Friday, supported by gains across most sectors. The market rebounded from the prior session's losses despite overnight weakness on Wall Street, as investors cautiously awaited Fed Chair Powell's speech at Jackson Hole. Sentiment also improved on hopes of fresh stimulus from Beijing after China's economy slowed in July. Starting in September, the Chinese government will launch a one-year consumer loan subsidy program, covering 90% of interest costs, with local authorities funding the rest. Locally, Hong Kong's annual...
Japan's equities rose on Friday after data showed inflation in July eased, reinforcing expectations for a potential Bank of Japan rate hike in the coming months. The Nikkei opened slightly higher by 19.64 points to 42,629.81. Japan's inflation in July eased, with the core CPI, which does not count fresh food items, up 3.1% over the same month in the previous year after a 3.3% gain in June, data by Statistics of Japan showed on Friday. Including all items, the reading also moderated to 3.1% compared to 3.3% in June, and marked the lowest since November 2024. Elsewhere, US stocks and bonds...
Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Friday as investors look to U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech at the central bank's annual economic symposium, which could offer clues into the path of interest rates. South Korea's jumped 1.22% and the small-cap Kosdaq was 0.94% higher. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 0.1% at the open, while the Topix rose 0.44%. The country's core inflation rate cooled to 3.1% in July, coming down from 3.3% the month before. The figure — which strips out costs for fresh food — was higher than the 3% expected by economists polled by Reuters. Rice...
The S&P 500 closed 0.4% lower on Thursday, marking its fifth consecutive decline as investors looked ahead to Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech at Jackson Hole. The Dow Jones slipped 153 points, while the Nasdaq 100 dropped 0.5% amid continued pressure on major tech stocks. Walmart dragged on sentiment, tumbling 4.5% after missing quarterly earnings expectations for the first time since 2022, despite lifting its full-year sales and profit outlook. Weakness across other retailers added to concerns about consumer resilience in the face of higher tariffs and uneven spending. On the data...
Stocks fell broadly on Thursday, with the S&P 500 down 0.4%, sliding for a fifth straight session as investors turned their focus to Fed Chair Powell's upcoming speech at Jackson Hole. The Dow Jones dropped 150 points, while the Nasdaq lost 0.5% amid ongoing weakness in big tech. Walmart weighed on markets after its shares slipped over 4% despite raising its full-year sales and profit outlook, as its quarterly earnings missed expectations for the first time since 2022. The disappointing results, combined with cautious signals from other major retailers, underscored consumer uncertainty...