Economic news

The dollar surged and the yen hit its highest level of the week on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump said he tested positive for COVID-19. The news could prompt a new wave of volatility in the market as investors await the presidential election in November. The dollar climbed 0.5% against the risk-sensitive Aussie and […]

Oil prices dropped almost 1% on Friday as an increase in crude production came amid a worsening pandemic. Rising coronavirus cases are feared to reimpose restrictions on movement and consumption that will heavily weigh on fuel demand. Brent crude fell 0.9% or 36 cents, at $40.57 per barrel following a 3% fall on Thursday. U.S. […]

August had seen Japan’s unemployment rate surging to its sharpest level in almost three years. Meanwhile, job vacancies dropped to more than a six-year low, underscoring the damage wrought by the coronavirus crisis within the month. On a seasonally adjusted basis, Japan’s unemployment rate advanced 3.0%, data from the labor ministry showed. The figure came […]

Asian share markets made minimal changes on Friday. This could be attributed to investors’ subdued sentiment over an impasse in U.S. stimulus talks. Meanwhile, employment figures from the United States are expected to provide a clear economic view amid the coronavirus crisis.   MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was seen 0.11% lower. […]

On Thursday, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) announced that it would purchase General Motors Co’s (GM) credit card business for about $2.5 billion (£1.94 billion). The American multinational investment bank and financial services company said that it would continue to join the growing list of lenders amid the coronavirus pandemic. Goldman Sachs and GM’s credit […]

U.S. stock futures and other world stocks fell on Friday as United States President Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump tested positive for the coronavirus a couple of weeks before the elections.   “News that U.S. President Trump has tested positive for COVID-19 must be worrying at a personal level, as it would be […]

A hardware failure suspended the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) earlier on Thursday in the worst outage ever suffered by the world’s third-largest stock market. The TSE said the outage was the result of a hardware problem at its “Arrowhead” trading system, and a subsequent failure to switch over to a backup device. The hit raised […]

The possibility of renewed U.S. stimulus improved global investor sentiment, steering markets to what is set to be an explosive fourth quarter on Thursday. However, an all-day outage in the Tokyo Stock Exchange gave the month a rocky start. Europe’s STOXX 600 index gained 0.7% ahead of PMI economic data, which is expected to show […]

The dollar was on the defensive at a one-week low on Thursday as upbeat U.S. data and fresh hopes for coronavirus stimulus aid lifted investors’ confidence to seek out risky assets. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that talks about the stimulus package with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made progress. This news, along with strong […]

Oil prices were steady in early trade on Thursday after U.S. lawmakers postponed a vote on a $2.2 trillion coronavirus stimulus aid in hopes of reaching a two-way deal, with rising infections weighing on fuel demand. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures slid 1 cent to $40.21 per barrel after gaining 2.4% on Wednesday. Brent […]