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...
Both the STOXX 50 and STOXX 600 rose 0.2% on Friday, putting them on track to close the week with strong gains of 3.3%, their best performance since April, and 1.9%, respectively. The weekly rally was driven by upbeat corporate earnings reports and renewed optimism over potential progress in resolving the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Investors also assessed changing global trade dynamics after President Trump's massive retaliatory tariffs took effect on Thursday. Furthermore, expectations of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut have recently strengthened. Among large-cap stocks, Novo Nordisk...
The Nikkei 225 jumped 1.85% to close at 41,820, while the broader Topix Index rose 1.21% to 3,024 on Friday (August 8), with the Topix index hitting a new record high as strong corporate earnings boosted market momentum. SoftBank Group surged more than 10% after returning to profitability in the first quarter, supported in part by gains from its artificial intelligence investments. Sony Group rose more than 3.5%, extending its 4.1% gain in the previous session, after raising its full-year operating profit forecast. Toyota Motor also rose 3.5% despite cutting its profit forecast due to US...
Hong Kong stocks fell 144 points, or 0.6%, to 24,936 in early trading on Friday, ending a four-day winning streak amid widespread weakness. Caution prevails ahead of China's July CPI and PPI data due Saturday, with consumer prices expected to ease slightly and producer deflation likely to persist amid ongoing trade risks. On the domestic front, Hong Kong's foreign exchange reserves fell to a three-month low of USD 425.4 billion in July. Semiconductor Manufacturing shares plunged 4.7% after missing second-quarter profit estimates, while MGM China (-4.3%), Kingdee Intl. Software (-4.2%), SITC...
Japan's Nikkei stock index rose 1.2% to 41,563.29 on Friday morning, driven by gains in the electronics and automotive sectors. This rise occurred as investor concerns eased regarding the impact of US tariffs on Japanese corporate profits. Sony shares jumped 4.6%, while Subaru gained 3.2%. Market sentiment was also supported by SoftBank Group's first-quarter earnings report, which beat analysts' expectations, pushing its shares up 5.1%. The USD/JPY exchange rate was stable at 147.06, not far from the previous close of 147.11. Investors are now focused on corporate earnings and political...
Asian stock markets opened higher on Friday (August 8), marking a fifth consecutive day of gains. The market's performance was supported by Japanese technology stocks, particularly Sony and SoftBank, which surged after reporting strong financial results. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.5%, while the Nikkei 225 jumped 1.3%. US stock futures also edged higher. Meanwhile, the US dollar weakened for the sixth consecutive day, recording its longest losing streak since March 2024. The yen briefly strengthened before recovering after Japan and the US agreed to end the universal tariff policy...