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Tag: Stocks and bonds

  • Asian stocks gain after optimism about AI sends Wall Street higher

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    TOKYO — U.S. futures were flat after President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech, while Asian shares were mostly higher.

    Japan’s benchmark briefly hit a record high as investors were cheered by an overnight Wall Street rally driven by optimism about the artificial-intelligence boom.

    Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 surged 2.2% to 58,583.12.

    Shares also rose in China. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.5% to 26,735.22, while the Shanghai Composite added 0.6% to 4,142.17.

    South Korea’s Kospi surged 2.1% to 6,093.33, as the benchmark continued to benefit from the global demand for computer chips.

    In Taiwan, the Taiex jumped 2.1% as shares in TSMC, the world’s largest contract manufacturer of computer chips, surged 2.5%.

    Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 jumped 1.2% to 9,128.30.

    In his speech, Trump focused on jobs, manufacturing and an economy he says is stronger than many Americans believe. He didn’t dwell on efforts to lower the cost of living — despite polling showing that his handling of the economy and kitchen-table issues has increasingly become a liability.

    The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were nearly unchanged.

    On Tuesday, before the speech, the S&P 500 climbed 0.8% to 6,890.07. The Dow industrials added 0.8% to 49,174.50, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1% to 22,863.68.

    Advanced Micro Devices helped lead the market and rallied 8.8% after announcing a multiyear deal where it will supply chips to Meta Platforms to help power its AI ambitions. Meta also got the right to buy up to 160 million shares of AMD stock for 1 cent each, depending in part on how many chips Meta ultimately buys.

    It’s a reminder of the excitement that built in recent years about the billions of dollars pouring into AI, producing a sharp turnaround from the prior day, when worries about the potential downsides of AI shook Wall Street. IBM rose 2.7% to recover some of its 13.1% drop from Monday, which was its worst since 2000.

    Chipmaking giant Nvidia is due to report its earnings later Wednesday in a quarterly report likely to sway a jittery stock market as investors weigh whether the massive bets riding on technology’s latest craze will pay off.

    As has been the case since Nvidia’s chipsets emerged as AI’s best building blocks, the expectations are sky high for the results covering the company’s fiscal quarter, covering November through January.

    Big U.S. companies have reported mostly better profits for the end of 2025 than analysts expected. Keysight Technologies rallied 23.1% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500, while Home Depot rose 2% after likewise delivering stronger profit and revenue than analysts expected.

    In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady after a report said that confidence among U.S. consumers improved by more than economists expected. The yield on the 10-year Treasury held at 4.03%, where it was late Monday.

    In other dealings early Wednesday, benchmark U.S. crude oil added 48 cents to $66.11 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 48 cents to $71.06 a barrel.

    The U.S. dollar slipped to 155.82 Japanese yen from 155.91 yen. The dollar traded close to 160 yen levels several months ago. The euro cost $1.1803, up from $1.1774.

    ___

    Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama

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  • US futures fall while Asian markets are mostly higher after the Supreme Court nixes Trump’s tariffs

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    BANGKOK — U.S. futures fell and most Asian markets climbed Monday after the Supreme Court struck down most of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.

    Tokyo’s markets were closed for a holiday.

    Hong Kong led regional gains as its Hang Seng index surged 2.2% to 27,003.47. But the Shanghai Composite index lost 1.3% to 4,082.07.

    In South Korea, the Kospi gained 1.1% to 5,873.07.

    Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.4% to 9,041.00.

    Taiwan’s Taiex jumped 1.4%.

    The mixed reactions are “highlighting the winners-and-losers effect of shifts in tariff policy that has just delivered a boost to countries who previously had a comparatively bad deal,” Benjamin Picton of Rabobank said in a commentary.

    “U.S. tariff policy will continue to be a source of uncertainty for markets as traders attempt to price in the implications of what is still a movable feast,” he wrote.

    The future for the S&P 500 lost 0.7% and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.6%. The future for the Nasdaq composite index was down 0.8%.

    On Friday, Wall Street kept calm after the Supreme Court’s ruling against Trump’s sweeping tariffs, which had triggered panic in financial markets when they were announced last year.

    The S&P 500 rose 0.7% to 6,909.51. It had been flipping between small gains and losses before the court’s ruling, following discouraging reports showing slowing growth for the U.S. economy and faster inflation.

    The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.5% to 49,625.97. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.9% to 22,886.07.

    Tariffs also aren’t going away, even with the Supreme Court’s ruling. Trump in the afternoon said he would use other avenues to put taxes on imports from other countries after calling the court’s decision terrible.

    “Just so you understand, we have tariffs, we just have them in a different way,” Trump told reporters in an afternoon briefing. He said he would sign an executive order to impose a 10% global tariff under a law that could limit it to 150 days. He later raised that to 15%.

    The president also said he’s exploring other tariffs through other avenues, ones that would require an investigation through the Commerce Department.

    The reaction has been tentative given persisting uncertainties over what Trump will do.

    On Wall Street, Akamai Technologies dropped 14.1% for one of the market’s sharpest losses. The cybersecurity and cloud computing company reported stronger results for the end of 2025 than analysts expected, but it gave a profit forecast for the upcoming year that fell short of estimates.

    Akamai plans to spend a bigger percentage of its revenue this upcoming year on equipment and other investments. It’s the latest potential indicator of how shortages of computer memory created by the AI boom are affecting customers throughout the economy.

    Discouraging reports showing slowing U.S. economic growth and accelerating inflation drew a relatively muted response from investors.

    The reports underscore the tricky situation the Federal Reserve faces as it sets interest rates, but did not change traders’ expectations much for what the Fed will ultimately do. Traders are still betting that the Fed will lower rates at least twice this year, according to data from CME Group.

    Lower interest rates would give the economy and investment prices a boost, but they also risk worsening inflation. Fed officials said at their last meeting that they want to see inflation fall further before they would support cutting rates further.

    In other dealings early Monday, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 53 cents to $65.95 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gave up 51 cents to $70.79 per barrel.

    The U.S. dollar slipped to 154.11 Japanese yen f rom 154.99 yen. The euro rose to $1.1828 from $1.1780.

    The price of gold rose 1.9%, while the price of silver was up 5.5%.

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  • US futures fall while Asian markets are mostly higher after the Supreme Court nixes Trump’s tariffs

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    BANGKOK — U.S. futures fell and most Asian markets climbed Monday after the Supreme Court struck down most of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.

    Tokyo’s markets were closed for a holiday.

    Hong Kong led regional gains as its Hang Seng index surged 2.2% to 27,003.47. But the Shanghai Composite index lost 1.3% to 4,082.07.

    In South Korea, the Kospi gained 1.1% to 5,873.07.

    Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.4% to 9,041.00.

    Taiwan’s Taiex jumped 1.4%.

    The mixed reactions are “highlighting the winners-and-losers effect of shifts in tariff policy that has just delivered a boost to countries who previously had a comparatively bad deal,” Benjamin Picton of Rabobank said in a commentary.

    “U.S. tariff policy will continue to be a source of uncertainty for markets as traders attempt to price in the implications of what is still a movable feast,” he wrote.

    The future for the S&P 500 lost 0.7% and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.6%. The future for the Nasdaq composite index was down 0.8%.

    On Friday, Wall Street kept calm after the Supreme Court’s ruling against Trump’s sweeping tariffs, which had triggered panic in financial markets when they were announced last year.

    The S&P 500 rose 0.7% to 6,909.51. It had been flipping between small gains and losses before the court’s ruling, following discouraging reports showing slowing growth for the U.S. economy and faster inflation.

    The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.5% to 49,625.97. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.9% to 22,886.07.

    Tariffs also aren’t going away, even with the Supreme Court’s ruling. Trump in the afternoon said he would use other avenues to put taxes on imports from other countries after calling the court’s decision terrible.

    “Just so you understand, we have tariffs, we just have them in a different way,” Trump told reporters in an afternoon briefing. He said he would sign an executive order to impose a 10% global tariff under a law that could limit it to 150 days. He later raised that to 15%.

    The president also said he’s exploring other tariffs through other avenues, ones that would require an investigation through the Commerce Department.

    The reaction has been tentative given persisting uncertainties over what Trump will do.

    On Wall Street, Akamai Technologies dropped 14.1% for one of the market’s sharpest losses. The cybersecurity and cloud computing company reported stronger results for the end of 2025 than analysts expected, but it gave a profit forecast for the upcoming year that fell short of estimates.

    Akamai plans to spend a bigger percentage of its revenue this upcoming year on equipment and other investments. It’s the latest potential indicator of how shortages of computer memory created by the AI boom are affecting customers throughout the economy.

    Discouraging reports showing slowing U.S. economic growth and accelerating inflation drew a relatively muted response from investors.

    The reports underscore the tricky situation the Federal Reserve faces as it sets interest rates, but did not change traders’ expectations much for what the Fed will ultimately do. Traders are still betting that the Fed will lower rates at least twice this year, according to data from CME Group.

    Lower interest rates would give the economy and investment prices a boost, but they also risk worsening inflation. Fed officials said at their last meeting that they want to see inflation fall further before they would support cutting rates further.

    In other dealings early Monday, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 53 cents to $65.95 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gave up 51 cents to $70.79 per barrel.

    The U.S. dollar slipped to 154.11 Japanese yen f rom 154.99 yen. The euro rose to $1.1828 from $1.1780.

    The price of gold rose 1.9%, while the price of silver was up 5.5%.

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  • Warren Buffett’s company invests in New York Times six years after selling newspapers

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    OMAHA, Neb. — Five years after Warren Buffett sold off all of Berkshire Hathaway’s newspapers and predicted unending declines for most of the industry, Berkshire disclosed a new $350 million investment in the New York Times on Tuesday.

    The somewhat surprising move highlighted the quarterly update Berkshire filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission about the company’s stock holdings in Buffett’s last quarter as CEO. Berkshire also increased its investment in Chevron just before President Donald Trump ordered the arrest of Venezuela’s president, and the Omaha-based company continued selling off more of its Bank of America and Apple shares.

    At the time that Buffett sold off Berkshire’s dozens of newspapers in 2020 he concluded the industry was “toast.” But even then he suggested that newspapers with a national brand like the Times or Wall Street Journal might still do well.

    “It’s a full circle moment for Berkshire Hathaway in reinvesting in news and a huge vote of confidence by Berkshire in the business strategy of the New York Times,” said Tim Franklin, a professor and chair of local news at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.

    Franklin said the Times may have its roots in the newspaper business, but today it’s a thriving digital business with popular games like Wordle, a well known sports platform called The Athletic and more than 12 million digital subscribers. He said maybe struggling local newspapers can draw some lessons from the “digital news powerhouse” the Times has become and find ways to offer online games and showcase the local sports coverage that readers can’t get elsewhere.

    These quarterly stock portfolio filings don’t make clear whether Buffett made every move or whether one of Berkshire’s other investment managers did. Buffett generally handled any investments worth more than $1 billion, so at the size of this Times investment it’s not certain whether this was one of his bets.

    But many investors will still try to copy it because of Buffett’s remarkable track record over the decades before he handed the CEO title over to Greg Abel in January after six decades of leading Berkshire. Shares of the Times jumped nearly 3% in after hours trading after Berkshire disclosed the stake.

    Berkshire also picked up about 8 million more Chevron shares in the quarter to give it more than 130 million shares in the oil giant. That was a particularly well-times bet because Chevron’s stock has soared since Trump promised to reinvigorate Venezuela’s oil business, but Buffett has long been bullish about the oil business and Berkshire has been a major investor in Chevron and Occidental Petroleum for several years.

    Chevron is the only major American oil company with significant operations in Venezuela, where it produces about 250,000 barrels a day. Chevron, which first invested in Venezuela in the 1920s, does business in the country through joint ventures with the state-owned company Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., commonly known as PDVSA. Chevron’s stock is up nearly 19% since the start of 2026 just before the U.S. captured Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro in a raid

    The other notable moves Berkshire made in the last three months of 2025 included selling off roughly 50 million Bank of America shares although it still holds nearly 81 million shares of the bank that he first started buying in 2011 while Bank of America was struggling with the effects of the subprime mortgage crisis. And Berkshire trimmed about 10 million shares off its massive Apple stake but continued to hold nearly 228 million shares at the end of last year.

    In addition to stocks, Berkshire owns dozens of companies outright including insurance giants like Geico, a collection of major utilities, BNSF railroad and many manufacturing and retail companies with brands like Dairy Queen and See’s Candy.

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  • Tokyo benchmark Nikkei 225 jumps after PM Takaichi’s ruling party wins a super majority in election

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    BANGKOK — Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 share index jumped 4.7% on Monday after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s governing party secured a two-thirds supermajority in a parliamentary election.

    Takaichi is expected to pursue market-friendly policies. She told public broadcaster NHK later that she is ready to pursue policies to make Japan strong and prosperous.

    Markets across Asia also advanced, with South Korea’s Kospi surging 4.3% and other benchmarks gaining more than 1%.

    The gains came after the U.S. stock market roared back on Friday as technology stocks recovered much of their losses from earlier in the week and bitcoin halted its plunge.

    The S&P 500 rallied 2% for its best day since May. The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 1,206 points, or 2.5%, and topped the 50,000 level for the first time, while the Nasdaq composite leaped 2.2%.

    The combination of a rebound in tech shares, Wall Street’s rally and other upbeat news lifted shares across Asia.

    NHK, citing results of vote counts, said Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party, or LDP, alone secured 316 seats by early Monday, comfortably surpassing a 261-seat absolute majority in the 465-member lower house, the more powerful of Japan’s two-chamber parliament. That marks a record since the party’s foundation in 1955 and surpasses the previous record of 300 seats won in 1986 by late Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone.

    Takaichi’s first major task when the lower house reconvenes in mid-February is to work on a budget bill, delayed by the election, to fund economic measures that address rising costs and sluggish wages.

    By late morning, the Nikkei 225 was up 4.7% at 56,788.85, having topped 57,000 earlier in the session to set a new record. The Kospi gained 4.3% to 5,308.84.

    Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index climbed 1.5% to 26,963.25 and the Shanghai Composite index rose 1% to 4,106.54. Taiwan’s Taiex gained 2.4%.

    In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 surged 1.9% to 8,876.50.

    On Friday, computer chip companies helped drive the widespread rally, and Nvidia jumped 7.8% to trim its loss for the week, which came into the day at just over 10%. Broadcom climbed 7.1% and erased its drop for the week.

    But even with Friday’s surge, the S&P 500 still fell to its third losing week in the last four. Apart from worries about spending by Big Tech companies, which are Wall Street’s most influential stocks, concerns about AI potentially stealing customers from software companies also hurt the market. Software stocks got hit particularly hard after AI firm Anthropic released free tools to automate things like legal services.

    Bitcoin, meanwhile, steadied following a weekslong plunge that had sent it more than halfway below its record price set in October. It climbed back above $70,000 after briefly dropping close to $60,000 late Thursday.

    Prices in the metals market also calmed a bit following their own wild swings. Gold rose 1.8% to settle at $4,979.80 per ounce, while silver added 0.2%.

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  • US futures and world shares slip as worries over Trump’s Fed chief pick and AI weigh on markets

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    U.S. futures and world shares skidded on Monday as worries over President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the next Federal Reserve chair amplified jitters over a possible bubble in the artificial intelligence boom.

    South Korea’s exchange, which is heavily influenced by tech-related developments, briefly suspended trading as its benchmark Kospi bounced, closing 5.3% lower at 4,949.67. Samsung Electronics gave up 6.3%, while chip maker SK Hynix sank 8.7%.

    The Kospi has been forging records for weeks as big tech companies piggybacked on the AI craze with deals with major players like chip maker Nvidia and OpenAI.

    In early European trading, Germany’s DAX edged less than 0.1% lower to 24,528.57. The CAC 40 in Paris shed 0.2% to 8,108.56, while Britain’s FTSE 100 declined 0.3% to 10,195.88.

    The future for the S&P 500 sank 0.7%, while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4%.

    Markets took a hit as investors considered how Kevin Warsh, Trump’s nominee to lead the Federal Reserve after Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s term ends in May might handle interest rates.

    Warsh’s nomination requires Senate approval. But financial markets fear the Fed may lose some of its independence because of Trump, who has pushed hard for more and faster rate cuts. That fear has helped catapult skyward the price of gold and weaken the U.S. dollar’s value over the last year.

    “People do not get handed the keys to the most powerful central bank on earth because they plan to drive in the opposite direction of the people who gave them the keys,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

    Early Monday, the price of gold fell 1.9%, while silver bounced back slightly, gaining 0.2%. Both plunged Friday as record runs in precious metals markets ground to a halt.

    On Friday, the price of gold dropped 11.4%, suddenly losing momentum after a tremendous rally where it roughly doubled over 12 months. It topped $5,000 for the first time on Jan. 26 and was around $5,600 at one point on Thursday.

    Silver, which had been on a similar, jaw-dropping tear, plunged 31.4%.

    U.S. benchmark crude oil lost $3.46 to $61.75 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, fell $3.47 to $65.85 per barrel.

    Speaking to reporters during the weekend, Trump said Iran should negotiate a “satisfactory” deal to prevent the Middle Eastern country from getting any nuclear weapons.

    “I don’t know that they will. But they are talking to us. Seriously talking to us,” he said.

    That comment apparently assuaged some worries over potential disruptions to oil supplies that had pushed prices higher, analysts said.

    In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gave up early gains, sinking 1.3% to 52,655.18.

    Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 2.2% to 26,775.57, while the Shanghai Composite index sank 2.5% to 4,015.75.

    In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 1% to 8,778.60.

    Taiwan’s Taiex lost 1.4%.

    On Friday, the S&P 500 dropped 0.4% and the Dow lost 0.4%. The Nasdaq composite lost 0.9%.

    The Fed chair has a big influence on the economy and markets worldwide by helping to dictate where the U.S. central bank moves interest rates. That affects prices for all kinds of investments, as the Fed tries to keep the U.S. job market humming without letting inflation get out of control.

    A report released Friday showed U.S. inflation at the wholesale level was hotter last month than economists expected. That could put pressure on the Fed to keep interest rates steady for a while instead of cutting them, as it did late last year.

    The longtime assumption has been that the Fed should operate separately from the rest of Washington so that it can make moves that are painful in the short term but necessary for the long term. To get inflation down to the Fed’s goal of 2%, for example, may require the unpopular choice to keep interest rates high and grind down on the economy for a while.

    In other action early Monday, the dollar fell to 154.88 Japanese yen from 154.94 yen. The euro was unchanged at $1.1853.

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  • Exxon Mobil reports strong quarterly profit on solid production at home and abroad

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    Exxon Mobil’s topped most expectations in the fourth quarter as the energy giant reported solid production in the Permian Basin and Guyana.

    For the three months ended Dec. 31, Exxon earned $6.5 billion, or $1.53 per share. It earned $7.61 billion, or $1.72 per share, a year earlier.

    Excluding one time charges and benefits earnings were $1.71 per share, topping the $1.68 per share that Wall Street was calling for, according to a poll by Zacks Investment Research. Exxon does not adjust its reported results based on one-time events such as asset sales.

    Revenue totaled $82.31 billion, which was below the $83.18 billion that analysts expected.

    Fourth-quarter net production was 5 million oil-equivalent barrels per day. That’s up slightly from 4.7 million oil-equivalent barrels per day in the third quarter. The quarterly performance included 1.8 million oil-equivalent barrels per day in the Permian and Guyana approaching 875,000 gross barrels per day.

    Exxon’s stock dropped more than 2% before the market opened Friday.

    Earlier this month President Donald Trump said that he is “inclined” to keep Exxon Mobil out of Venezuela after its top executive was skeptical about oil investment efforts in the country after the toppling of former President Nicolás Maduro.

    Getting U.S. oil companies to invest in Venezuela and help rebuild the country’s infrastructure is a top priority of the Trump administration after Maduro’s capture.

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  • How major US stock indexes fared Wednesday, 1/21/2026

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    The U.S. stock market rebounded after President Donald Trump called off Greenland-related tariffs that he had threatened to impose on Europe.

    The S&P 500 rallied 1.2% Wednesday after Trump said he reached the framework of a deal about Greenland, an island he’s long coveted, and won’t impose tariffs he had threatened on several European countries. The index recovered about half the ground it lost a day earlier.

    The Dow Jones Industrial Average also rose 1.2%, as did the Nasdaq composite. Treasury yields eased in the bond market. They also got some help from a calming of government bond yields in Japan.

    On Wednesday:

    The S&P 500 rose 78.76 points, or 1.2%, to 6,875.62.

    The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 588.64 points, or 1.2%, to 49,077.23.

    The Nasdaq composite rose 270.50 points, or 1.2%, to 23,224.82.

    The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 52.81 points, or 2%, to 2,698.17.

    For the week:

    The S&P 500 is down 64.39 points, or 0.9%.

    The Dow is down 282.10 points, or 0.6%.

    The Nasdaq is down 290.56 points, or 1.2%.

    The Russell 2000 is up 20.43 points, or 0.8%.

    For the year:

    The S&P 500 is up 30.12 points, or 0.4%.

    The Dow is up 1,013.94 points, or 2.1%.

    The Nasdaq is down 17.17 points, or 0.1%.

    The Russell 2000 is up 216.27 points, or 8.7%.

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  • Netflix delivers solid 4th quarter, but stock sinks amid worries about slowing subscriber growth

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    Netflix capped last year with another solid financial performance despite slowing subscriber growth that underscored the importance of its contested $72 billion bid to take over Warner Bros.’ movie studio and slot HBO Max into its video streaming line-up.

    The fourth-quarter results announced Tuesday eclipsed the projections of stock market analysts, but Netflix’s report also noted that the video service ended the year with more than 325 million worldwide subscribers, a figure indicating it has added about 23 million subscribers since 2024.

    The 2025 subscriber increase marked a dramatic slowdown from the 41 million picked up during 2024, amplifying investor worries that Netflix’s growth has peaked since the 2022 introduction of a low-priced, advertising-supported version of its service that triggered a massive surge in subscribers.

    Management also forecast a profit for the January-March period that was below analysts’ predictions and announced Netflix would stop buying back its own stock while trying to complete the Warner Bros’ deal.

    “Overall, this points to a challenging start to the year,” said Investing.com analyst Thomas Monteiro.

    Netflix’s shares sank 5% in extended trading, even though its profit and revenue for the past quarter were better than anticipated. The company earned $2.4 billion, or 56 cents per share, 29% increase from the same time in the previous year. Revenue rose 18% from the previous year to more than $12 billion.

    The results almost seemed like a footnote next to the stakes involved in Netflix’s bidding war to buy Warner Bros. Discovery .

    The tug-of-war took another turn earlier Tuesday when Netflix converted its original offer that included a stock component into an all-cash deal in hopes of simplifying the process and making it easier for Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders to resist Paramount’s overtures.

    Although Warner Bros. has reiterated its commitment to getting the Netflix deal done, Paramount isn’t showing any signs of backing down and could still sweeten its counteroffer to turn up the heat another notch.

    Besides having to fend off Paramount, Netflix will also need to persuade U.S. regulators that adding HBO to a streaming service that has the most subscribers in the country won’t stifle competition and drive up prices that have already been rising in recent years.

    The uncertainty has been reflected in Netflix’s stock price, which has fallen by20% since its agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery was unveiled last month. It’s a cloud likely to hang over Netflix through most of this year because the company doesn’t expect to complete its purchase until Warner Bros. Discovery spins off its cable TV business — a process expected to take six to nine months.

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  • Asian shares are mixed and US futures edge higher after Wall Street steadies

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    BANGKOK — Asian shares were mixed Friday after Wall Street broke a two-day losing streak and edged back toward record levels, helped by advances for Big Tech companies like Nvidia.

    U.S. futures advanced and oil prices slipped.

    Tech shares regained momentum after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., a major supplier to the industry, reported strong profits and investment plans. TSMC gained 3% early Friday and Taiwan’s benchmark Taiex was up 1.9%.

    The frenzy around AI has sent Nvidia and other superstar stocks to dizzying heights, stirring criticism that their prices had shot too high. Nvidia rose 2.1% on Thursday after TSMC’s Chief Financial Officer Wendell Huang said it’s seeing “continued strong demand” in an encouraging signal for the entire AI industry.

    TSMC’s stock that trades in the United States rose 4.4% on Thursday.

    The gains also followed the signing of a U.S.-Taiwan trade deal involving $250 billion in new investments by Taiwan’s semiconductor and tech companies in the U.S. In exchange, the Trump administration will cut tariffs on Taiwanese goods. The deal aims to establish a strategic economic partnership and upgrade U.S. industrial infrastructure.

    In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 shed 0.3% to 53,936.17, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gave up 0.6% to 26,770.56. The Shanghai Composite index lost 0.3% to 4,101.91.

    China is due to report its economic growth data for 2025 on Monday. Forecasts are for the economy to have expanded at about a 4.5% annual pace, slowing from earlier in the year.

    Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.9% to a record 4,840.74. The benchmark has been trading at record highs for weeks, helped by a recovery in confidence in AI-related shares. Samsung Electronics gained 3.5%.

    In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.5% to 8,903.90. India’s Sensex rose 0.4%.

    Wall Street steadied on Thursday as stocks related to artificial-intelligence bounced back.

    The S&P 500 rose 0.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.6%. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.2% to 23,530.02.

    Easing oil prices also helped to calm investors’ jitters.

    Early Friday, a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude cost $59.21, up 14 cents from a day earlier. It sank 4.6% on Thursday after Trump said he had heard “on good authority” that plans for executions in Iran had stopped amid widespread protests against the country’s leadership.

    Brent crude, the international standard, added 10 cents to $63.86 per barrel. It dropped 4.1% on Thursday.

    Financial markets took Trump’s comments about Iran as a signal that tensions flaring above some of the world’s largest oil deposits could ease, which in turn could lower the possibility of disruptions to oil supplies.

    Earnings reporting season for big U.S. companies continued to pick up pace, meanwhile, with several more big financial companies delivering their results for the last three months of 2025.

    “As we dive into the heart of earnings season in the coming weeks, tech results will be scrutinized in far greater detail.,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya of Swissquote said in a commentary.

    “Concerns around circular AI deals, leverage and delayed returns on investment remain front of mind for investors. These are compounded by rising electricity and metals costs, higher memory-chip prices, and the risk of supply disruptions,” she said.

    BlackRock, the giant that’s now overseeing more than $14 trillion in investments, rose 5.9% after reporting stronger profit and revenue than analysts expected.

    Encouraging reports on the U.S. economy contributed to the upbeat mood.

    One said fewer workers applied for unemployment benefits last week in an indication layoffs may be slowing. Other reports said manufacturing was significantly stronger in the mid-Atlantic region and in New York state than economists had forecast.

    The stronger-than-expected data on the U.S. economy helped stocks of smaller companies to lead the market. Their profits can be tied more closely to the strength of the U.S. economy than their bigger, multinational rivals, and the Russell 2000 index rose 0.9%.

    In other dealings early Friday, the U.S. dollar fell to 158.19 Japanese yen from 158.63 yen.

    The euro rose to $1.1614 from $1.1609.

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  • US futures slip while world shares are mixed as Fed chair Powell faces legal threat

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    BANGKOK — U.S. futures sank Monday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the Department of Justice had served the central bank with subpoenas.

    Markets in Europe were mostly lower after a broad rally in Asia.

    The threat of a criminal indictment over Powell’s testimony about the Fed’s building renovations is the latest escalation in President Donald Trump’s feud with the Fed. Trump has criticized the $2.5 billion renovation of two office buildings as excessive.

    Markets appeared to take the news in stride, although gold and other precious metals often used as a hedge in times of uncertainty climbed.

    The future for the S&P 500 declined 0.7% and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6%. The future for the Nasdaq composite index slipped 1.1%.

    In Germany, the DAX was nearly flat at 25,265.46, while the CAC 40 in Paris shed 0.5% to 8,319.03. Britain’s FTSE 100 edged 0.1% lower, to 10,114.82.

    In Asian trading, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.4% to 26,608.48, while the Shanghai Composite index jumped 1.1% to 4,165.29 after reports that Chinese leaders were preparing more help for the economy.

    Tokyo’s markets were closed for a holiday.

    In South Korea, the Kospi added 0.8% to 4,624.79, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.5% to 8,759.40.

    Taiwan’s Taiex gained 0.9%.

    On Friday, U.S. stocks hit records following a mixed report on the U.S. job market, one that may delay another cut to interest rates by the Federal Reserve but does not slam the door on it.

    Powell’s term as chair ends in May, and Trump administration officials have signaled that he could name a potential replacement this month. Trump has also sought to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook.

    In a brief interview with NBC News Sunday, Trump insisted he didn’t know about the investigation into Powell. When asked if the investigation is intended to pressure Powell on rates, Trump said, “No. I wouldn’t even think of doing it that way.”

    The S&P 500 climbed 0.6% to 6,966.28, topping its prior all-time high set earlier in the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.5% to 49,504.07, and likewise set a record.

    The Nasdaq composite led the market with a 0.8% gain, closing at 23,671.35.

    The U.S. Labor Department said employers hired fewer workers during December than economists expected, though the unemployment rate improved and was better than expected. It reinforced how the U.S. job market may be in a “ low-hire, low-fire” state and may hopefully avoid a recession.

    An update on U.S. inflation at the consumer level is due Tuesday, followed by a report on wholesale prices on Wednesday.

    In other dealings early Monday, the dollar fell to 157.77 Japanese yen from 158.03 yen.

    The euro climbed to $1.1690 from $1.1635 late Friday.

    U.S. benchmark crude oil gave up early gains, falling 12 cents to $59.00 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, shed 9 cents to $63.25 per barrel.

    The price of gold rose 2.3% and the price of silver jumped 6.3%. Copper was up 1.4%.

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  • Asian shares trade mixed after Wall Street hits records on tech gains

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    TOKYO — Asian shares traded mixed Wednesday, calming somewhat from the buzz set off by recent record rallies on Wall Street, while investors’ attention turned to global interest rates and uncertainty caused by developments in Venezuela.

    Despite a broad rally on Wall Street, Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 1.1% to finish at 51,961.98, and South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.6% to 4,551.06. Both had set records a day earlier.

    In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.2% to 8,695.60.

    Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 1.1% to 26,419.05, while the Shanghai Composite added less than 0.1% to 4,085.77.

    “Global uncertainty continues to deepen,” Tan Boon Heng of Mizuho Bank in Singapore said in a commentary, because of U.S. forces capturing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a weekend raid, and President Donald Trump’s threats to take control of Greenland.

    On Tuesday, broad gains led by technology stocks pushed prices on Wall Street to more records. The gains mirror much of the action from the previous year, when big technology stocks often drove the market to a series of records.

    The S&P 500 rose 0.6% to 6,944.82, setting a record on just the third trading day of the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1% to 49,462.08, hitting a record for a second-straight day. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.6%, to 23,547.17.

    Small company stocks outpaced their larger counterparts as the Russell 2000 jumped 1.4%. It’s now just below its record set in December.

    Amazon, which surged 3.4%, is one of the most valuable companies in the world. Technology companies, especially those focused on artificial intelligence, are being closely watched this week during the industry’s annual CES trade show in Las Vegas. AI advances helped propel the broader U.S. market to a series of records in 2025.

    The Federal Reserve will be analyzing economic data for its next meeting in late January. The central bank cut its benchmark interest rate three times late in 2025. Wall Street expects the Fed to hold interest rates steady at its January meeting.

    Treasury yields rose in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 4.16% from 4.15% late Monday. The yield on the two-year Treasury, which moves more closely with expectations for what the Federal Reserve will do, rose to 3.46% from 3.45% late Monday.

    In other trading early Wednesday, the price of benchmark U.S. crude oil fell 88 cents or 1.5% to $56.25 per barrel. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, fell 70 cents to $60.00 per barrel.

    Gold prices slipped 0.3% and silver prices declined 1.5%. Such assets are often considered safe havens in times of geopolitical turmoil. The metals have notched record prices over the last year amid lingering economic concerns brought on by conflicts and trade wars.

    In currency trading, the U.S. dollar fell to 156.35 Japanese yen from 156.62 yen. The euro cost $1.1700, inching up from $1.1692.

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    AP Business Writer Damian J. Troise contributed.

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  • Asian shares and US futures advance, as Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 hits a record high

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    BANGKOK — Asian shares logged strong gains, with Tokyo’s benchmark closing at a record high on Tuesday, after a broad rally on Wall Street.

    Oil prices fell back after surging Monday following the capture by U.S. forces of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a weekend raid.

    Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.3% to 52,518.08, beating its Oct. 31 record, on strong buying of tech related shares like precision tools maker Disco Corp., which jumped 6.1%.

    South Korea’s Kospi also pushed further into record territory, gaining 1.5% to 4,525.98, buoyed by gains for automakers and some electronics manufacturers.

    Hong Kong’s Hang Seng surged 1.5% to 26,748.80, and the Shanghai Composite index was up 1.5% at 4,082.36, it’s highest level in four years.

    In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.5% to 8,682.80.

    Taiwan’s Taiex climbed 1.6%, while in India, the Sensex shed 0.5%.

    Monday’s gains on Wall Street were broad, with particularly big jumps for energy companies and banks. Elsewhere, industrial companies and retailers joined in to help boost major indexes.

    The S&P 500 rose 0.6%, ending just below its record set in late December. The Dow Jones Industrial Average set a record, adding 1.2% to 48,977.18.

    The Nasdaq composite rose 0.7%.

    Smaller company stocks had a particularly strong day, outpacing other indexes, in a sign of broader investor confidence. The Russell 2000 rose 1.6%.

    Energy companies and the oil market were a key focus after the capture of Maduro by U.S. forces. The price of U.S. crude jumped 1.7% to $58.32 per barrel. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, rose 1.7% to $61.76 per barrel.

    However, oil fell back early Tuesday. U.S. crude shed 18 cents to $58.14 per barrel, while Brent crude lost 12 cents to $61.64 per barrel.

    Chevron jumped 5.1%, Exxon Mobil rose 2.2% and Halliburton surged 7.8% for some of the strongest gains in the market after President Donald Trump floated a plan for U.S. oil companies to help rebuild Venezuela’s oil industry.

    Venezuela’s oil industry has been decimated by neglect and international sanctions and may require years of substantial investments to restore past production levels.

    Investors will get several updates on the U.S. economy this week.

    On Monday, the Institute for Supply Management released its manufacturing index for December showing the sector continued shrinking. More importantly, the business group will release its December report on the services sector on Wednesday. The services sector makes up the bulk of the U.S. economy and it grew, even if only slightly, throughout most of 2025.

    Reports on the job market later this week, which include updates for job openings and overall employment, will be a bigger focus for the Federal Reserve. The U.S. central bank has been weighing a slowing job market against risks for rising inflation as it decides whether to cut interest rates. It cut its benchmark rate three times late in 2025, but inflation has remained above its 2% target and that has made the Fed more cautious.

    Wall Street still expects the Fed to hold rates steady at its upcoming meeting later in January.

    Technology companies, especially artificial intelligence, were in the spotlight Monday as the industry kicked off the annual CES trade show in Las Vegas. Nvidia fell 0.4% and Applied Materials jumped 5.7%.

    AI advances helped propel the broader market to a series of records in 2025. Updates from influential technology companies could help shed more light on whether the big investments in AI are worth the potential financial risks.

    In other trading early Tuesday, the U.S. dollar slipped to 156.28 Japanese yen from 156.40 yen. The euro rose to $1.1739 from $1.1724.

    Gold gained 0.5% after a 2.8% jump on Monday. The price of silver added another 2.9% after soaring 7.9% on Monday. Such assets are often considered safe havens in times of geopolitical turmoil. The metals have notched record prices over the last year amid lingering economic concerns brought on by conflicts and trade wars.

    Bitcoin fell back 1.3% after rising to its highest level since mid-November, falling to about $93,700.

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  • Markets show mixed reactions after US capture of Venezuelan leader

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    BANGKOK — Oil prices fell back Monday while the prices of precious metals surged as markets registered a mixed reaction to the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a weekend raid.

    Share prices opened higher, with benchmarks in South Korea and Japan again setting fresh records. U.S. futures were flat after stocks eked out small gains Friday on Wall Street.

    Shortly after trading began, U.S. benchmark crude oil rose slightly. But it later was trading 23 cents lower at $57.09 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gave up 17 cents to $60.58 per barrel.

    After years of neglect and international sanctions, Venezuela’s oil industry is in disrepair. It could take years and major investments before production can increase dramatically. But some analysts expect Venezuela could double or triple its current output of about 1.1 million barrels of oil a day to return to historic levels fairly quickly.

    With oil levels already plentiful, crude has been trading at its lowest level in about six months.

    In any case, the U.S. move was reverberating through financial markets as traders maneuvered to account for the uncertainty brought on President Donald Trump’s unusual military operation and his insistence that the U.S. will be running Venezuela following its Maduro’s ouster.

    The price of gold rose 1.9%, while silver jumped 5.7%.

    Such assets are often considered safe havens in times of geopolitical turmoil.

    “Investors are happy to own risk, but they want insurance in the drawer. This is confidence with a hedge, not euphoria,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

    Share prices in Asia shot sharply higher.

    In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 jumped 3% to 51,853.53. The index closed at a year end high for 2025 and only resumed trading on Monday.

    “Looking at the environment surrounding the markets, continuously, there are various risk factors. We must keep an eye on geopolitical risks in Ukraine, the Middle East and East Asia, the U.S.-China trade war, monetary policies in other countries and their development, and corporate performance trends in Japan,” Hiromi Yamaji, CEO of the Japan Exchange Group, said in the traditional New Year opening ceremony.

    South Korea’s Kospi surged 3.1% to 4,441.80. It had ended Friday with a record high close.

    Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.1% to 8,733.30, while Taiwan’s benchmark climbed 2.9%.

    In other trading early Monday, the dollar rose to 157.27 Japanese yen from 156.82 yen. The euro slipped to $1.1682 from $1.1726.

    On Friday, U.S. stocks eked out small gains on Wall Street in a wobbly but quiet day of trading to kick off the new year.

    The S&P 500 rose 0.2%, to 6,858.47, coming off a gain of more than 16% in 2025.

    The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7% to 48,382.39, while the Nasdaq composite fell less than 0.1%, to 23,235.63. The index was weighed down by a 2.2% loss for Microsoft and a 2.6% decline for Tesla, after it reported falling sales for a second year in a row.

    Nvidia, Microsoft and Tesla are among the most valuable companies in the world and their outsized valuations give them more influence on the stock market’s direction. That includes sometimes pushing the market up and down from hour to hour.

    Furniture companies gained ground following President Donald Trump’s move to delay increased tariffs on upholstered furniture. RH rose 8% and Wayfair rose 6.1%.

    This week is the first full week of the new year. It will bring several closely watched economic updates, some of the last big updates the Fed sees before its next meeting at the end of January.

    On the agenda are private reports on the status of the services sector, which is the largest part of the U.S. economy, along with consumer sentiment. Government reports on the job market will also be released. The hope is they’ll help paint a clearer picture of how various parts of the U.S. economy closed out 2025 and where it might be headed in 2026.

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  • Shares are higher in Asia in an upbeat start to the new year

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    BANGKOK — Asian markets began the new year Friday with gains, while U.S. futures and oil prices also advanced.

    Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 2.2% to 26,189.79 on a strong rally in tech shares.

    E-commerce giant Alibaba climbed 3.2% and search engine and technology company Baidu jumped 7.5% after it said it plans to spin off its artificial intelligence computer chip unit Kunlunxin, which would list shares in Hong Kong early 2027. The plan is subject to regulatory approvals.

    Markets were still closed in Tokyo, Shanghai, Thailand and New Zealand.

    South Korea’s Kospi picked up 1.5% to 4,277.94, while the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia edged 0.2% higher, to 8,727.30.

    Taiwan’s Taiex was up 1.1% and the Sensex in India added 0.1%.

    Asian shares have been supported by expectations that growth in the use of artificial intelligence will spur demand for computer chips and other items needed to build out data centers and other infrastructure.

    Recent manufacturing data for much of the region has been relatively weak, though trade has remained resilient.

    “Exports from most countries have surged in recent months, and we think the near-term outlook for Asia’s export-oriented manufacturing sectors remains favorable,” Shivaan Tandon of Capital Economics said in a report.

    The future for the S&P 500 was up 0.5% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.3%.

    On Wednesday, U.S. stocks finished 2025 with a fourth day of losses, despite strong gains for the year.

    The S&P 500 gave up 0.7% to 6,845.50 and the Dow fell 0.6% to 48,063.29. The Nasdaq composite closed 0.8% lower at 23,241.99.

    The S&P 500 set 39 record highs in 2025 and closed 16.4% higher for the year. The Nasdaq gained 20.4% and the Dow finished 13% higher.

    Wall Street’s 2025 gains came as investors embraced the optimism surrounding artificial intelligence and its potential for boosting profits across almost all sectors. But the market had no shortage of turbulence along the way amid

    President Donald Trump eventually put his on-again, off-again tariffs on imported goods worldwide on pause while negotiating trade deals, helping to calm frayed nerves.

    Strong corporate profits and three cuts to interest rates by the Federal Reserve also helped drive markets higher.

    Wall Street is betting that the Fed will hold interest rates steady at its next meeting in January.

    The Labor Department reported that fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week with layoffs remaining low despite a weakening labor market.

    All of the sectors in the S&P 500 closed in the red Wednesday, with technology stocks the biggest drag on the market. Western Digital fell 2.2% and Micron Technology lost 2.5%. Both were among the biggest gainers in the S&P 500 this year.

    In other dealings early Friday, silver gained 3.5% after giving back 9.4% on Wednesday. It gained more than 140% in 2025.

    Gold picked up 1.1%. It closed out the year with a 63.7% gain.

    U.S. benchmark crude gained 35 cents to $57.77 per barrel. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, was up 35 cents at $61.20 per barrel.

    The U.S. dollar rose to 156.80 Japanese yen from 156.75 yen. The euro climbed to $1.1760 from $1.1746.

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  • Global shares trade mixed with some exchanges closed ahead of the New Year

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    TOKYO — Global stock markets, including Germany, Japan and South Korea, were closed Wednesday for the yearend and New Year’s holidays, while trading was mixed in those bourses that remained open.

    France’s CAC 40 lost 0.5% in early trading to 8,130.14, while Britain’s FTSE 100 shed 0.2% to 9,923.59.

    Earlier in Asia, the Hang Seng index dipped 0.9% to 25,630.54, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.1% to 3,968.84. The Taiex in Taiwan jumped 0.9% to 28,963.60. In Australia, Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped less than 0.1% to 8,714.30.

    Tokyo trading was set to be closed for the New Year’s holidays on Thursday and Friday and scheduled to reopen on Monday. In South Korea, trading was scheduled to be closed on Thursday.

    Trading will remain open Wednesday on Wall Street but will be closed Thursday.

    In energy trading, U.S. crude fell 16 cents to $57.79 per barrel. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, slipped 16 cents to $61.176 per barrel.

    The continued impact of a wide-ranging U.S.-led trade war threatens to add more fuel to inflation in the U.S. The Fed can cut interest rates to help the economy weather a slower jobs market. But that could add more fuel to inflation, which is still solidly above the Fed’s 2% target.

    The Fed has signaled more caution moving forward. Minutes from its December meeting reflect the divisions within the central bank as it deals with uncertainty about the threats facing the economy.

    Wall Street is betting that the Fed will hold interest rates steady at its next meeting in January.

    Sung Won Sohn, professor of finance and economics at Loyola Marymount University, believes uncertainty is brewing for global markets because of inflation, labor shortages and questions about where interest rates might be headed.

    “Central banks must tread carefully, and financial markets will likely experience continued volatility as expectations shift,” he said.

    “For businesses, investors, and policymakers alike, flexibility, risk management, and close attention to economic signals will be essential in navigating the challenges ahead.”

    In currency trading, the U.S. dollar rose to 156.55 Japanese yen from 156.36 yen. The euro cost $1.1727, down from $1.1744.

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    AP Business Writer Damian J. Troise contributed to this report.

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  • China Vanke’s near-default exposes fragility of the faltering recovery in the property industry

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    HONG KONG — State-backed property developer China Vanke, once the country’s largest homebuilder by sales, narrowly avoided defaulting on a 2 billion yuan ($284 million) bond last week as the painfully slow recovery in China’s property market drags on.

    The Chinese developer also was seeking to delay repayment of another 3.7 billion yuan ($530 million) of onshore debt due on Dec. 28, with bondholders agreeing to extend the deadline to February.

    Years after the downturn in the housing market began, Chinese developers are still struggling to regain their footing, despite a slew of government policies meant to revive the industry. Weak investment and housing prices have shaken investor confidence, spilling into the broader economy since millions of homeowners are stuck with apartments worth far less than what they paid for them.

    Instead of the huge driver of prosperity that it once was, the property market is weighing on the economy.

    Although Vanke’s bondholders have approved extensions for repayments of its debt, the risk of a default remains.

    About a third-owned by Shenzhen Metro, a state-owned railway, publicly listed Vanke’s finances are a mess. Its revenue fell 27% from a year earlier in the latest July-September quarter, and several of its onshore bonds were suspended from trading after prices plunged.

    The developer owes more than $50 billion, less than the more than $300 billion in debt racked up by China Evergrande, one of the first property dominos to fall when it defaulted in 2021 after the government cracked down on excessive borrowing in the industry.

    Analysts say Vanke, founded in the 1980s in the southern boomtown of Shenzhen, may be testing the limits of state support for property developers in reviving the industry, which once accounted for more than a quarter of total economic activities in China.

    More than four years after the downturn began, China’s property sector has yet to recover. The situation varies from city to city, but overall home prices have fallen by 20% or more from their peak in 2021.

    The decline has continued, with new home sales falling 11.2% by value year-on-year in the first 11 months of 2025, according to official statistics. Property investments fell nearly 16% from a year earlier.

    The slump has caused massive layoffs, hurting overall consumer confidence and spending.

    “The continued slide in the property market remains one of the most significant risks to China’s efforts to shift to a domestically demand-driven growth model,” wrote Lynn Song, chief economist for Greater China at ING Bank, in a recent commentary.

    China Evergrande, once deemed “too big to fail” as one of the country’s largest developers, ran into trouble in 2021 and eventually was forced into liquidation. Many other Chinese developers also defaulted and in some cases were restructured. Tough measures to fight Covid-19 during the pandemic took a toll as construction projects were suspended.

    Restoring confidence in the property sector may take years, economists at Morgan Stanley say, and Vanke’s woes will only further weigh on its real estate market outlook. Economists at Morningstar say home prices are unlikely to rebound until 2027 due to excess supply, despite repeated pledges by regulators to stabilize the real estate market.

    While Vanke’s debt is way smaller than Evergrande’s was, a default would sting: It had been considered one of the financially sounder real estate developers in China.

    Shenzhen Metro Group, which is controlled by the Shenzhen government, has provided more than 29 billion yuan ($4 billion) in shareholder loans to Vanke so far this year to help with its debt repayments, according to S&P Global.

    That’s not enough to repay its full obligations. Vanke reported 60 billion yuan ($8 billion) of cash by the end of September 2025, against short-term debts of about 151 billion yuan ($21 billion), Fitch Ratings said.

    “This is one of the most significant, quasi state-backed developers that may be defaulting (on) their repayment,” said Foreky Wong, a founding partner at Fortune Ark Restructuring.

    S&P Global, one of the world’s main rating agencies, recently downgraded Vanke to “selective default,” saying it viewed the extension of its bond repayment period as a distressed debt restructuring “tantamount to a default.” Fitch Ratings also downgraded Vanke’s rating to “restricted default”.

    Vanke — which employed more than 120,000 people as of last year — still faces hundreds of millions of dollars more of debt repayments in 2026. S&P said it faces more than 9.4 billion yuan of bonds maturing over the next six months.

    A default by Vanke could spill over into the wider real estate sector, making it more difficult for non-state owned developers to get help, said Jeff Zhang, an analyst at Morningstar.

    “Without a strong commitment by the Shenzhen government on the bailout, we think Vanke’s liquidity profile should remain fragile,” Zhang said.

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  • Asian shares follow Wall Street lower in final stretch of 2025

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    BANGKOK — Shares were mostly lower Tuesday in Asia and U.S. futures were flat after stocks slipped on Wall Street.

    Crude oil prices were little changed and gold and silver resumed climbing.

    With just two trading days left before the year ends, most big investors have closed out their positions and volume has been thin. Most global markets will be closed Thursday, New Year’s day, and some will remain closed on Friday.

    Tokyo’s Nikkei edged less than 0.1% lower to 50,519.12.

    Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index climbed 0.5% to 25,751.64, while the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.1% to 3,961.21.

    In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.1% lower to 8,719.10.

    South Korea’s Kospi picked up less than 2 points, to 4,221.64, while Taiwan’s Taiex lost 0.2%.

    On Monday, stocks slipped in quiet trading on Wall Street.

    The S&P 500 fell 0.3% to 6,905.74. The benchmark index is still up more than 17% for the year and it remains on track for its eighth monthly gain in a row.

    The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5% to 48,461.93, while the Nasdaq composite fell 0.5%, to 23,474.35.

    Big technology stocks with outsized valuations were among the heaviest weights on the market. Nvidia and several other companies focusing on AI or benefiting heavily from the developing technology have become some of the most valuable in the world.

    Nvidia fell 1.2% and Broadcom fell 0.8%.

    Tech shares have wobbled recently as investors have grown skeptical over the whether the eventual payoff will justify hefty investments in artificial intelligence.

    Energy stocks gained ground Monday along with rising oil prices. U.S. benchmark crude jumped 2.4% to settle at $58.08 per barrel. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, rose 2.1% to settle at $61.94 a barrel. Exxon Mobil rose 1.2%.

    Early Tuesday, U.S. crude was unchanged and Brent had lost 1 cent to $61.48 per barrel.

    Gold and silver prices resumed their upward trajectory after pulling back on Monday when the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, one of the largest trading floors for commodities, asked traders to put up more cash to make bets on precious metals.

    The price of gold gained 0.9% early Tuesday after falling 4.6% the day before. It’s up about 64% for the year.

    Silver prices gained 5.2% after slumping 8.7% on Monday. They have more than doubled in 2025.

    Treasury yields fell in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.11% from 4.13% late Friday.

    Treasury yields have fallen significantly from the start of the year, after the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark rate to help counter a slowing jobs market. That risks heating up inflation that is already stubbornly above the central bank’s target rate of 2%. Interest rate cuts could boost the economy by making loans less expensive, but that benefit could be nullified by rising inflation stunting economic growth.

    In other dealings early Tuesday, the U.S. dollar slipped to 156.03 Japanese yen from 156.05 yen. The euro rose to $1.1779 from $1.1774.

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    AP Business Writer Damian J. Troise contributed to this story.

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  • World shares are mostly lower in quiet holiday trading as China stages war drills near Taiwan

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    BANGKOK — Shares in Europe and Asia were mostly lower in thin holiday trading as China staged military exercises near the island of Taiwan.

    The prices of gold and silver fell back after recent gains, while oil prices jumped more than $1. U.S. futures were little changed.

    Shares in Taiwan were higher even after China’s military said it was conducting the drills around the self-governed island that Beijing claims as its territory.

    In early European trading, Germany’s DAX slipped 0.2% to 24,296.81, while the CAC 40 in Paris was nearly unchanged at 8,100.83. Britain’s FTSE 100 likewise barely budged, at 9,874.80.

    The future for the S&P 500 fell 0.2% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat.

    China said its combined forces drills were intended to warn against what it called separatist and “external interference” forces. Taiwan placed its military on alert and called the Beijing government “the biggest destroyer of peace.”

    The drills came after Beijing expressed anger at U.S. arms sales to the territory. That followed a comment by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi that Japan’s defense forces could get involved if China were to take action against Taiwan. The Chinese statement did not mention the United States and Japan.

    Taiwan’s benchmark Taiex gained 0.9%, but the Hang Seng in Hong Kong gave up early gains, falling 0.7% to 25,635.23. The Shanghai Composite index was virtually unchanged at 3,965.28.

    Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.4% to 50,526.92.

    In South Korea, the Kospi jumped 2.2% to 4,220.56, less than 2 points off its all-time record reached in early November. A 6.8% jump for SK Hynix due to a regulatory change that lifted an investment warning for its stock helped boost the benchmark. Samsung Electronics advanced 2.1%.

    Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gave up 0.4% to 8,725.70.

    The price of gold fell 1.3% to $4,494 per troy ounce, while silver slipped 2.3% to $75.40. It has jumped to record levels on supply constraints, as both precious metals have been favored by investors seeking safe havens outside of stocks and bonds.

    Earlier surges in gold prices also partly reflected worries during the U.S. government shutdown. Expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates further in the new year, weakening the dollar against other currencies, have further fueled buying of gold.

    Silver, which like gold is used in many industries, has been influenced by other factors, too. China, which refines about two-thirds of global supplies, has scrapped an export quota system, replacing it with an export licensing system effective Jan. 1.

    “Scarcity is no longer theoretical,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a report. “China sits at the center of global silver refining, and when the world’s top refiner starts tightening the valve, downstream users feel it immediately.”

    Reopening Friday from the Christmas holiday, the S&P 500 index fell less than 0.1% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average also fell less than 0.1%. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.1%.

    With three trading days left in 2025, the S&P 500 has climbed nearly 18% this year, helped by the deregulatory policies of the Trump administration and investor optimism about the future of artificial intelligence.

    Trading has been light, with institutional investors largely closed out for the year.

    In other dealings early Monday, U.S. benchmark crude oil gained $1.13 to $57.87 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, advanced $1.13 to $61.37 per barrel. On Friday, U.S. crude oil fell 2.8% and Brent crude fell 2.6%.

    The U.S. dollar fell to 156.30 Japanese yen from 156.56 yen. The euro rose to $1.1779 from $1.1770.

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  • Asian shares are mixed in quiet holiday trading after a lackluster post-Christmas day on Wall St

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    BANGKOK — Asian shares were mixed on Monday after a lackluster post-Christmas session on Wall Street, despite a ratcheting up of tensions over Taiwan.

    U.S. futures were little changed.

    The Chinese military said it had dispatched air, navy and rocket troops to conduct joint military drills around the self-governed island, which Beijing claims as its territory, to warn against what it called separatist and “external interference” forces. Taiwan said it was placing its forces on alert and called the Beijing government “the biggest destroyer of peace.”

    The drills came after Beijing expressed anger at U.S. arms sales to the territory and a statement by Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, saying its military could get involved if China were to take action against Taiwan, the self-governing island that the world’s second-biggest economy says must come under its rule. But the Chinese military did not mention the United States and Japan in its statement on Monday morning.

    Taiwan’s benchmark gained 0.8%, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong was up 0.3% at 25,887.33. The Shanghai Composite index added 0.3% to 3,975.92.

    Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.2% to 50,663.90.

    In South Korea, the Kospi jumped 1.9% to 4,207.36, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gave up 0.3% to 8,732.70.

    The price of gold fell 0.4% to $4,535.50 per troy ounce, while silver gained 3% to $79.87. It has jumped to record levels on supply constraints.

    Earlier surges in gold prices partly reflected worries during the U.S. government shutdown. Expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates further in the new year, weakening the dollar against other currencies, have also fueled buying of gold.

    Both precious metals have risen this year as investors have looked for safe havens outside of stocks and bonds. Miners posted solid gains Friday. Freeport-McMoRan climbed 2.2%.

    Trading is light with institutional investors largely closed out for the year.

    Reopening Friday from the Christmas holiday, the S&P 500 index fell less than 0.1% to 6,929.94. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell less than 0.1%, to 48,710.97, while the Nasdaq composite fell 0.1% to 23,593.10.

    With three trading days left in 2025, the S&P 500 has climbed nearly 18% this year, helped by the deregulatory policies of the Trump administration and investor optimism about the future of artificial intelligence.

    In other dealings early Monday, U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 60 cents to $57.34 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, advanced 62 cents to $60.86 per barrel.

    On Friday, U.S. crude oil fell 2.8% and Brent crude fell 2.6%.

    The U.S. dollar fell to 156.28 Japanese yen from 156.56 yen. The euro was unchanged at $1.1770.

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