Global Focus Financial News

The Canadian market ended modestly higher on Friday, led by gains in materials stocks as gold prices advanced on safe-haven buying. Stocks from the rest of the sectors turned in a mixed performance. Investors reacted positively to some upbeat earnings updates from top U.S. companies, including Alphabet and Microsoft, and digested U.S. personal consumption expenditure...

Singapore will on Monday release Q1 figures for unemployment, highlighting a light day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. In the three months prior, the jobless rate was 2.0 percent. Thailand is scheduled to release March numbers for imports, exports, trade balance and industrial production. Imports are tipped to rise 4.55 percent on year after adding 3.20...

The South Korea stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last seven trading days since the end of the four-day losing streak in which it had plunged almost 125 points or 4.6 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,655-point plateau and it may extend its gains on Monday. The...

The Malaysia stock market bounced higher again on Friday, one day after ending the six-day winning streak in which it had climbed almost 40 points or 2.5 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index now sits just above the 1,575-point plateau and it\'s looking at another solid start on Monday. The global forecast for the Asian...

The Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing an unexpected decrease by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended April 20th. The report said initial jobless claims fell to 207,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week\'s unrevised level of 212,000. The dip surprised economists, who had expected jobless claims...

While reporting financial results for the first quarter on Thursday, PHINIA Inc. (PHIN) reaffirmed its fiscal 2024 guidance for net earnings in a range of $125 million to $160 million on net sales between $3.42 billion and $3.58 billion. On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $4.15 per...

OSI Systems, Inc. (OSIS) reported on Thursday that net income for the third quarter grew to $34.04 million or $1.95 per share from $21.81 million or $1.27 per share in the prior-year quarter. Excluding items, adjusted earnings were $2.16 per share, compared to $1.49per share in the year-ago quarter. On average, four analysts polled by...

A report released by the Commerce Department on Thursday showed the U.S. economy grew by much less than expected in the first quarter of 2024. The Commerce Department said gross domestic product increased by 1.6 percent in the first quarter after surging by 3.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023. Economists had expected GDP...

Pending home sales in the U.S. surged by much more than expected in the month of March, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors on Thursday. NAR said its pending home sales index spiked by 3.4 percent to 78.2 in March after jumping by 1.6 percent to 75.6 in February. Economists...