US stocks were higher on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 rising 0.3%, the Nasdaq edging up 0.1%, and the Dow Jones jumping more than 250 points. The gains followed fresh record closes for the S&P 500 in back-to-back sessions. Investor sentiment was buoyed by renewed trade optimism after President Trump announced a deal with Japan that would lower tariffs from 25% to 15%. Japan also committed to investing $550 billion in the US and opening its markets to key American goods. Additionally, a trade agreement with the Philippines was announced, while hopes are growing that a deal with the EU...
The Nikkei 225 jumped 1.5% to above 38,800 while the broader Topix index gained 0.9% to 2,720 on Monday, with Japanese shares rising for a second straight session after suffering losses over the past two weeks. Local shares also mirrored Wall Street's gains, as strong U.S. economic data and optimism over the election outcome continued to support equities. Looking ahead, investors are focused on Tokyo's inflation figures, due later this week, as they are seen as a leading indicator of national price trends. Technology stocks led the rally, with significant gains from Lasertec (+3.2%), Tokyo...
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a new record on Friday, capping off a winning week for stocks. The blue-chip Dow gained 426.16 points, or 0.97%, to 44,296.51, a new all-time closing high and its third straight positive session. The S&P 500 added 0.35% to finish at 5,969.34 for its fifth winning day in a row. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.16% to 19,003.65. Gains were restricted by slides of more than 3% and 1% in Nvidia and Alphabet, respectively. The Dow ended the week about 2% higher, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each added about 1.7%. That marks a turn...
European stocks closed higher on Friday, as investors reviewed weak economic indicators from across the region which built expectations for central bank rate cuts. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index provisionally closed 1.18% higher, with all sectors except banks ending in positive territory. Health care and retail stocks led the gains, both up over 2%, while Europe's banking index slipped 2%. In the U.K., the pound fell to a six-month low against the U.S. dollar following U.K. retail sales data. The country's Office for National Statistics said that retail sales volumes lost 0.7%...
The S&P 500 and the Dow hovered at levels seen more than a week ago on Friday, as investors took comfort from data pointing to robust economic activity in the world's biggest economy. The domestically focused small-cap Russell 2000 index,outperformed large-cap indexes with a 1.3% rise. The index hit a more than one-week high and was set for weekly advances of nearly 4%. A measure of business activity raced to a 31-month high in November, boosted by hopes for lower interest rates and more business-friendly policies from President-elect Donald Trump's administration next year. At 11:29...
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was trading 0.6% higher at 8:45 a.m. in London, with nearly all sectors and major bourses in positive territory. Technology stocks led the gains, up 1.3%, while the European banking index fell 0.2%. The regional index snapped a four-session losing streak on Thursday and closed about 0.5% higher. Data released Friday showed Germany's economy grew a modest 0.1% in the third quarter from the previous three months — lower than a preliminary reading of 0.2% for the period. In the U.K., the pound fell to a six-month low against the U.S. dollar following data on U.K....