BUSINESS

Asian markets mostly got the week off to a healthy start, though traders struggled to match the strong lead from Wall Street

Stock Markets Diverge As Traders Eye Trump 2.0

Concerns about China's stuttering economy, the outlook for US interest rates and the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East were causing a sense of uncertainty ahead of Trump's return to the White House on January 20.
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US President Joe Biden has decided to block the proposed $14.9 billion purchase of US Steel by Japan's Nippon Steel and will reportedly announce the move as soon as Friday

Biden To Block US-Japan Steel Deal: US Media

A White House announcement of the presidential finding is being planned unless Biden has a last-minute change of heart, according to the Washington Post and the New York Times.
Chinese authorities have been clear they want to reorientate the economy around areas of high-tech innovation, for example in the green energy sector

China Says 'Determined' To Open Up To World In 2025

The world's second-largest economy has struggled to revive growth following the Covid-19 pandemic and remains beset by a debt crisis in the crucial housing sector, chronically low consumption and high youth unemployment.
Wall Street has gotten off to a slow start in 2024, with Asia following suit

Asia Stocks Begin Year On Cautious Note

Equities mostly had a bumper 2024 on the back of enthusiasm about artificial intelligence (AI), cuts in borrowing costs by central banks and Donald Trump's presidential election win.
President-elect Donald Trump once argued for a US ban on TikTok, but has recently expressed support for the popular video sharing platform

Trump's TikTok Love Raises Stakes In Battle Over App's Fate

Trump, who credits the wildly popular platform with delivering him a large young user base, opposes banning TikTok partly because he believes it would primarily benefit Meta, the Mark Zuckerberg-led company behind Instagram and Facebook.
Asian stocks were mostly up but trading was thin on Christmas Eve

Asian Stocks Mostly Up After US Tech Rally

Overnight, European stocks bounced around while US equities shook off early weakness to push higher as investors waited to see if a so-called Santa Claus rally would materialize.
Nike's new CEO vowed to revive the brand despite a difficult run in recent quarters

New Nike CEO Vows Turnaround After Earnings Drop

The athletics company, which has struggled in recent quarters with weakness in China and product oversupply that has depressed prices, reported quarterly profits of $1.2 billion, down 26 percent from the year-ago period.
US Fed chair Jerome Powell said 'policy uncertainty' had led some members of the bank's rate-setting committee to dial back the number of cuts they expect to make in 2025

US Fed's Caution On Rate Cuts Could Cause Friction With Trump

Fed chair Jerome Powell acknowledged on Wednesday that Trump's economic platform, which includes the threat of major tariff hikes, the extension of tax cuts, and mass deportation, had been a consideration when members of the rate-setting committee met to consider the number of interest rate cuts they expect next year.
US lawmakers battling to avert a government shutdown this weekend after  the House of Representatives rejected a Republican-led funding bill

Markets Struggle As Traders Digest Fed's Hawkish Pivot

Data showing Japanese inflation rose more than expected last month did little to help the yen, which took a hefty hit from the US central bank's more hawkish tilt and the Bank of Japan's refusal to tighten monetary policy.
Credit Suisse was hit by a string of scandals before being taken over by UBS

Credit Suisse Collapse Probe Slams Banking Regulator

An 18-month investigation raking over the dramatic collapse of one of the world's biggest banks, the rarely-used parliamentary commission of inquiry found no evidence that the implosion of Credit Suisse was caused by misconduct on the part of the authorities.

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