Asia-Pacific markets opened mixed Wednesday, following gains on Wall Street ahead of a potential U.S. government shutdown as lawmakers continue to wrangle over details of a second temporary spending bill. Investors in Asia will look toward the Reserve Bank of India's rate decision late Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 sunk 0.2% at its open, while the broad based Topix was down 0.85%. In South Korea, the blue-chip Kospi was up 0.94%, and the small-cap Kosdaq gained 0.84%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.32% in early trade. Markets on mainland China and Hong Kong were closed for a...
Hong Kong stocks edged up 25 points, or 0.1%, to 24,348 in early trade on Friday, following losses in the previous session, largely supported by gains in consumer stocks. An overnight rally on Wall Street lifted sentiment after the S&P 500 closed near a record. The White House's efforts to play down a looming July tariff deadline also helped calm investor nerves. However, the upside momentum was capped by caution ahead of the release of the US PCE index, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, due later in the day. Meanwhile, recent data showed a slight annual decline in China's industrial...
The Nikkei 225 rose 1.3% to around 40,100 on Friday, while the broader Topix index gained 1.1% to 2,835, as Japanese equities rose to multi-month highs after a strong session on Wall Street. Market sentiment improved after the White House downplayed the urgency of an upcoming tariff deadline, easing investor concerns about a protracted trade war. Spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt indicated the deadline was flexible and could be extended. Meanwhile, investors weighed fresh data showing Tokyo's core inflation slowed in June but remained well above the Bank of Japan's 2% target, maintaining...
The S&P 500 rose to within a whisker of a new record Thursday, the culmination of a stunning comeback from lows set in April as the benchmark overcame a wall of worries that included tariff fights, wars and sticky inflation. The broad market index climbed 0.8% to close at 6,141.02, bringing its gain on the week to 2.9% and putting it just a few points away from the intraday all-time high hit in late February of 6,147.43. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.97% to 20,167.91, itself inches away from a new record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 404.41 points, or 0.94%, to...
The Stoxx Europe 600 index provisionally rose by 0.1%. Regionally, the FTSE 100 was higher by 0.2% and Germany's DAX was up 0.6%. France's CAC 40 bucked the trend by closing flat. Within the Stoxx 600 index, miners Anglo American and Antofagasta were among the biggest gainers, alongside defense giants Rheinmetall, Saab and Hensoldt Balfour Beatty shares rose 2.7% after the company said it won a £833 million contract to help build the world's first gas-fired power station for Net Zero Teeside Power, a joint venture between BP and Equinor. The British construction firm said that the...
US stocks edged higher on Thursday, with the S&P 500 rising 0.4% to approach record levels, the Nasdaq 100 adding 0.5% to surpass the fresh high topped the day before and the Dow Jones adding more than 200 points, supported by growing expectations that the Fed may cut interest rates sooner than previously anticipated. The WSJ reported that President Trump is considering announcing his nominee for the next Fed Chair early, potentially installing a "shadow" chair who could push for a more dovish policy stance. Meanwhile, fresh economic data showed the US economy contracted more than...