Stock indexes posted steep weekly losses after weaker than expected data reignited fears about the health of the U.S. economy. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite tumbled 5.8% on the week, its worst performance since January 2022. For the week, the S& P 500 fell 4.2% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average 2.9%, both the worst since March 2023. All three major indexes extended their losses Friday.
Pity the investors in artificial-intelligence-themed exchange-traded funds that managed to lose money this year. Disappointing AI funds should be a cautionary tale for buyers of thematic ETFs.
As competition among automakers intensifies, Volkswagen is weighing shuttering plants in Germany for the first time and ending its job security program that has been in place since 1994. "The situation is extremely tense and cannot be overcome by simple cost-cutting measures," warned brand CEO Thomas Schaefer.
Turkey has put in an application to join the BRICS group of emerging market nations, according to Bloomberg, ahead of the bloc's next summit due to take place in Russia on Oct. 22-24. It follows the recent expansion that added four new members to the BRICS (Iran, the UAE, Ethiopia and Egypt) at the beginning of 2024.
Big tech groups including Nvidia led a broad US stock market sell-off on Tuesday, as the S&P 500 suffered its worst day since a bout of global volatility early last month. The index dropped 2.1 per cent in the first trading session since the Labor Day holiday, while the chip giant closed 9.5 per cent lower.
Airlines Ryanair and Wizz Air reported a jump in passenger numbers in August, bringing both airlines to new records as demand for low-cost summer travel continues. Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers, said Tuesday that passengers grew 8% year over year last month to 20.5 million. The Irish low-cost carrier said the result was a record after it operated more than 111,800 flights in the month. Hungary-based peer Wizz Air, which focuses on Eastern Europe, also reported record passenger numbers for August. Wizz Air said passenger numbers rose 1% on year to 6.2 million.
U.S. job growth rebounded slightly last month after a mid-summer scare, keeping the Federal Reserve on track to begin cutting interest rates at its meeting in two weeks. The economy added 142,000 jobs, according to the Labor Department, an uptick from July hiring that sparked slowdown fears and jarred global financial markets. The unemployment rate in August ticked lower to 4.2%.
The euro zone’s annual inflation rate dropped to 2.2% in August, a three-year low, boosting expectations that the European Central Bank will cut interest rates again.
