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...
US stocks pulled back on Friday as the latest economic data continued to reflect stubborn inflationary pressures in the US economy, clouding the Fed's rate outlook. The S&P 500 and the Dow dropped 0.2% from record highs yesterday, while pressure for the heavyweight tech sector drove the Nasdaq down by 0.5%. Personal income and spending accelerated from the previous month to reflect a robust economy at the turn of the quarter, when President Trump toned down tariff threats. In the meantime, core PCE prices, the Fed's preferred gauge for underlying inflation, accelerated to 2.9%...
The Hang Seng Index rose 79 points, or 0.3%, to close at 25,078 on Friday (August 29th), snapping a three-day decline driven by gains in consumer and technology stocks. The index gained 1.2% in August, its fourth consecutive monthly gain, driven by momentum in Chinese stocks, which are nearing a decade-high thanks to strong institutional inflows, attractive valuations, and pro-growth policies, particularly around AI innovation and technological self-sufficiency. The market pared earlier gains as US index futures fell sharply ahead of the PCE inflation data, the Fed's preferred benchmark,...
European stock markets are heading for a mixed open on Friday as attention turns to inflation prints from some of the region's biggest economies, along with the U.S. Price rise data is due from France, Spain, Italy and Germany, ahead of the flash August reading for the euro area next Tuesday. Stateside, investors will be monitoring the personal consumption expenditures price index, a key metric for the Federal Reserve. It comes after Fed Chair Jerome Powell stoked expectations for an interest rate cut in September with a speech last week widely interpreted as dovish-tilting. Interest rate...
Japanese stocks plunged on profit-taking ahead of the release of US personal consumption expenditures data.The Topix index fell 0.5% to 3,075.18 as of 3:30 p.m. Tokyo time.The Nikkei fell 0.3% to 42,718.47."Investors are cautiously monitoring US economic indicators ahead of a possible US interest rate cut in September," said Naoki Fujiwara, senior investment manager at Shinkin Asset Management.The sell-off spread across sectors, hitting exporters such as electronics and automakers, as well as banks and insurance companies. Toyota Motor contributed the most to the Topix decline, falling 1.6%....
Hong Kong stocks rose 191 points or 0.8% to 25,183 on Friday morning trade, rising for the first session in four after Wall Street's S&P 500 and Dow Jones closed at record highs overnight on stronger-than-expected U.S. Q2 GDP growth. Gains were broad-based, led by consumer, financial, and property shares. Trip.com climbed 3.8% after logging stronger revenues, while Ping An Insurance jumped 2.7% on plans to buy more equities, following increased allocations to high-dividend Hong Kong-listed banks earlier this year. Pharma stocks also outperformed, with Wuxi Biologics up 5.2%, followed...