Hong Kong stocks fell for the second session, down 46 points or 0.2% to 25,469 on Wednesday morning, after U.S.-China trade talks ended without a meaningful breakthrough. While extending the current tariff truce remains possible, Treasury Secretary Bessent said President Trump will have the final say. Caution also prevailed ahead of the Fed's rate decision later today, with analysts noting most Fed officials prefer to wait and assess the inflationary impact of tariffs before acting, especially with Trump's August 1 tariff deadline looming. Tech shares led the fall, followed by consumers...
European markets opened lower on Friday as investors monitored political turmoil in the US and monetary policy decisions from major economies. The United States was plunged into fresh political uncertainty late Thursday, after the failure of a Trump-backed spending bill that would have averted a government shutdown. Dozens of Republican lawmakers voted against a deal to fund the government for three months and suspend the US debt ceiling for two years, meaning a partial government shutdown will begin on Friday night. Elsewhere, China kept its key interest rate steady on Friday, in line...
The Nikkei 225 Index dropped 0.29% to close at 38,702, while the broader Topix Index fell 0.44% to 2,702 on Friday, marking the sixth consecutive session of losses as investors reacted to stronger-than-expected inflation data. Japan's headline inflation rate rose to a three-month high of 2.9% in November, up from 2.3% in October, while the core inflation rate increased to 2.7%, surpassing market expectations of 2.6%. These figures support a hawkish outlook for Bank of Japan (BOJ) monetary policy. However, the BOJ chose to keep rates unchanged at its December meeting, citing the need to...
Japanese shares are rising slightly on Friday as the yen's weakening on dovish signals from the Bank of Japan supported export-related sectors such as automakers, steel producers and shippers. The Topix Index rose 0.2% to 2,719.63 as of 9:30 a.m. Tokyo time The Nikkei advanced 0.2% to 38,880.21 Toyota Motor Corp. contributed the most to the Topix Index's gain, increasing 2.8%. Out of 2,126 stocks in the index, 1,195 rose and 775 fell, while 156 were unchanged. With key domestic and overseas monetary policy events out of the way, domestic demand-linked...
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was higher Thursday, rebounding from its 10th straight loss.The 30-stock Dow added 164 points, or 0.3%. The S&P 500gained 0.3%, alongside the Nasdaq CompositeShares of artificial intelligence darling Nvidia which weighed down the Dow in the previous session, traded 2% higher. Gains in financial stocks, including JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America led the recovery in equities Thursday alongside industrials, health care and utilities. Stocks plunged Wednesday after the Federal Reserve struck a heavy blow against the roaring bull market, signaling that it...
European markets fell sharply at the open on Thursday, following global markets lower after the U.S. Federal Reserve hinted yesterday that a small rate cut was imminent. The pan-European Stoxx 600 fell 1.26% shortly after the start of trading, with all sectors in negative territory. The lower open in Europe was anticipated following a sell-off on Wall Street on Wednesday after the Fed, which cut its overnight lending rate by 25 basis points to a target range of 4.25% to 4.5%, signaled there would likely be only two rate cuts in 2025, instead of the four cuts it had previously...