Page 323 - Rep News Today

China stocks slipped on Wednesday as new energy and agriculture companies weighed, while improving sentiment in the real estate sector underpinned developers' shares.

Share markets were jittery in early Asia on Wednesday as trading was buffeted by a step-up in U.S. Treasury yields as well as volatile oil prices in the face of price-cooling moves by the United States and other nations.

Maybe Jamie Dimon learned something about President Xi Jinping’s sense of humour during his recent visit to Hong Kong. The JPMorgan boss was clearly just looking for a chuckle on Tuesday when he said he’d wager that his bank would outlast China’s Communist Party, following up with, “I can’t say that in China. They are probably listening anyway.” As others can attest, however, the blowback from Beijing after perceived slights is often no laughing matter.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell to their lowest level since 1969 last week, pointing to sustained strength in the economy as a year marked by shortages and an unending pandemic winds down.

Asia's cash premiums for benchmark 10 ppm gasoil and jet fuel cargoes continued to rise on Wednesday as firming demand draws on inventories at key storage and trading hubs.

The Hungarian forint gained Wednesday, after hitting a record low in the previous session, while long-term government bond yields retreated in a market move that traders and analysts said was a correction.

Sri Lankan shares ended lower on Wednesday, weighed down by financial stocks ahead of the central bank's monetary policy decision on Thursday.

Wall Street shares reversed earlier losses in choppy trading on Wednesday and U.S. Treasury yields hovered near highs for the year after data suggested the U.S. job market and consumer spending continued to improve.

Australian shares ended a see-saw trading session slightly lower on Wednesday, as strength in the U.S. dollar and firmer Treasury yields dragged gold miners and tech stocks, and outweighed a rally in the energy sector.

Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of markets brought to you by Reuters reporters. You can share your thoughts with us at markets.research@thomsonreuters.com