Asia-Pacific markets opened mostly higher Friday, tracking Wall Street gains as investors shrugged off the U.S. government shutdown. Investors are waiting to see how long the shutdown will last to assess the gravity of its economic repercussions. Historically, government shutdowns in the U.S. have not been market-moving events. Japan's September unemployment rate rose to 2.6%, government data showed Friday, higher than the 2.4% expected by economists polled by Reuters. The latest reading compared with the 2.3% unemployment rate in August. The country's September manufacturing purchasing...
European stock markets opened positively this week, with the Euro Stoxx 50 up 0.6% and the broader Stoxx 600 up 0.2%. This rebound follows a sharp selloff last week, when both indexes fell more than 3% amid concerns about the resilience of the US economy, fueled by unexpectedly weak employment data and renewed global growth concerns after President Trump announced new tariffs. Adding to the uncertainty, Trump's firing of the head of the Bank of England has raised concerns about the credibility of upcoming economic data. Looking ahead, investor attention will turn to several key events this...
Japanese stocks weakened after the close on Monday (August 4th), as weakness in the Paper & Pulp, Transportation, and Communications sectors led to declines. At the close of trading in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 fell 1.22%. The best-performing stocks on the Nikkei 225 were Nintendo Co Ltd (TYO:7974), which rose 5.12%, or 645.00 points, to trade at 13,240.00. Meanwhile, Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. (TYO:4005) rose 4.58%, or 16.80 points, to close at 383.80, and Hoya Corp (TYO:7741) rose 3.23%, or 565.00 points, to close at 18,065.00. The worst-performing stocks during the session were Yamaha...
Hong Kong stocks rose 98 points, or 0.4%, to 24,607 in early trading on Monday, ending a four-day losing streak amid gains led by the property and technology sectors. Sentiment improved after China's top leaders pledged to support the economy and tackle "irregular competition" at last week's Politburo meeting. Beijing also confirmed plans to hold its fourth plenary session in October, which will likely focus on the next five-year plan. A modest rebound in US stock futures added support, following Wall Street's sharp decline on Friday due to weak employment data. On tariffs, US Treasury...
The Nikkei 225 fell 2% to below 40,000 and the broader Topix index fell 1.8% to 2,895 on Monday (August 4), with both indexes hitting near two-week lows as Japanese stocks followed Wall Street's sharp decline. The sell-off followed US President Donald Trump's massive retaliatory tariffs of 10% to 41% on several trading partners, alongside a weaker-than-expected US jobs report that deepened economic concerns. Domestically, investors awaited the minutes of the Bank of Japan's latest policy meeting for clues on the timing of its next interest rate hike. Technology stocks led the decline, with...
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...