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...
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite fell Wednesday after mixed quarterly figures from Alphabet and chipmaker AMD led the tech sector lower. A decline in Apple also put pressure on the major indexes. The broad market index dipped 0.2%, while the Nasdaq lost 0.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average hovered around the flatline. Alphabet shares tumbled 8% after the Google-parent posted a cloud revenue miss as it ramps up spending on artificial intelligence, spooking investors who worried the megacap tech company will take longer to capitalize on its AI ambitions. Overall revenue for the period...
The Hang Seng Index fell 0.9% at 20,597.09 in Hong Kong. The move was the biggest since falling 1.6% on Jan. 22 and follows the previous session's increase of 2.8%. AIA Group Ltd. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 1.9%. Nongfu Spring Co. had the largest drop, falling 6.9%. Today, 67 of 83 shares fell, while 15 rose; all sectors were lower, led by commerce and industry stocks. Source: Bloomberg
European markets opened in negative territory on Wednesday (2/5), with investors looking ahead to more earnings from a number of major companies. Earnings are due from Handelsbanken, TotalEnergies, Akzo Nobel, Credit Agricole, Novo Nordisk, GSK, Vestas Wind and Banco Santander, among others. On the data front, the latest purchasing managers' index data from the euro zone is due on Wednesday. Regional markets were mostly flat on Tuesday as investors continued to monitor developments in U.S. trade policy under President Donald Trump, and after China announced tariffs on U.S. imports in...
Japanese stocks rose after the close on Wednesday (2/5), as gains in the Textiles, Marine Transportation and Services sectors boosted shares. At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.08%. The best performers on the Nikkei 225 were Bandai Namco Holdings Inc (TYO:7832), which rose 13.73% or 530.00 points to trade at 4,389.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Panasonic Corp (TYO:6752) rose 13.66% or 209.00 points to close at 1,738.50 and Honda Motor Co Ltd (TYO:7267) gained 8.19% or 113.50 points to 1,500.00 in late trade. The worst performers on the session were Yokogawa Electric Corp....
Asia-Pacific markets were mixed Wednesday after Wall Street rose overnight, shrugging off Trump tariffs and China's retaliatory measures. All eyes are on China, which resumed trading after the Lunar New Year holidays and as the Chinese government announced tariffs on U.S. imports in retaliation to duties on its exports. Mainland China's CSI300 Index started the day up, but reversed course to drop 0.61%. China's Caixin Services PMI came in at 51.0 in January, compared with December's 52.2 reading, showing a slowdown in the country's services activity. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index started...