Global Focus Financial News

Japan will on Friday release September figures for household spending, highlighting a light day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. Spending is expected to sink 0.7 percent on month and 1.8 percent on year after adding 20 percent on month and falling 1.9 percent on year in August. Japan also will see September figures for its leading...

The South Korea stock market on Thursday ended the two-day slide in which it had slumped more than 25 points or 1 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,560-point plateau and it may pick up steam on Friday. The global forecast is positive after the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark lending rate by...

The average of household spending in Japan was down 1.1 percent on year in September, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Friday - coming in at 287,963 yen. That beat forecasts for a decline of 1.8 percent following the 1.9 percent drop in August. On a monthly basis, spending fell 1.3 percent...

Asian stocks ended mixed on Friday after the Bank of England and the U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter point. Focus shifted to stimulus announcements from China later in the day as the meeting in the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress ends. The dollar sagged in Asian trading after Fed...

German stocks were little changed on Friday after posting sharp gains in the previous session. Politics were in focus, with opposition leader Friedrich Merz accusing Chancellor Olaf Scholz of seeking to delay an early election until March purely for party political advantage. Merz not only rejected Scholzs approach and reiterated his demand for a January...

French stocks were little changed on Friday as Chinas top legislative body - the National Peoples Congress (NPC) - approved the State Councils proposal to increase local government debt limit by $839 billion after a week-long session. There was some disappointment as the hotly anticipated stimulus was not as broad or immediate as initially presumed....

U.K. stocks were subdued on Friday, a day after the Bank of England cut interest rates as expected but signaled stickier inflation. The benchmark FTSE 100 was down 21 points, or 0.3 percent, at 8,119 after declining 0.3 percent on Thursday. Vistry Group shares plummeted 16 percent. The housebuilder announced today that it has revised...

European stocks drifted lower on Friday as Chinas top legislative body - the National Peoples Congress (NPC) - approved the State Councils proposal to increase local government debt limit by $838 billion after a week-long session. There was some disappointment as the hotly anticipated stimulus was not as broad or immediate as initially presumed. The...