Australia's Producer Price Index (PPI) rose 0.8% in Q4 2025, down from 1.0% the previous quarter and below the expected 1.1% increase. This was the 22nd quarter of producer inflation, driven by strong demand in the residential property sector. On an annual basis, producer prices climbed 3.5% in Q4, the same pace as in Q3. Separate data showed Australia’s private sector credit rose 0.8% month-on-mo...
Australia's Producer Price Index (PPI) rose 0.8% in Q4 2025, down from 1.0% the previous quarter and below the expected 1.1% increase. This was the 22nd quarter of producer inflation, driven by strong demand in the residential property sector. On an annual basis, producer prices climbed 3.5% in Q4, the same pace as in Q3. Separate data showed Australia’s private sector credit rose 0.8% month-on-month in December 2025, exceeding market expectations of 0.6% and accelerating from a 0.6% growth in the previous month. The S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.4% to around 8,960 in early Friday deals and is up 2.9% for the month. The Australian dollar traded around $0.701, hovering near a three-year high. More on Australia: EWA: Potentially Range Bound, Given The Mix Of Tailwinds And Headwinds Australia’s inflation surges to 3.8% in December, surpassing expectations Australia manufacturing gains momentum while services growth hits a 4-year peak of 56.0 in January Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on iShares MSCI Australia ETF Dividend scorecard for iShares MSCI Australia ETF
China suspended trading of five commodity funds on Friday to curb investment mania in gold, silver and oil and reduce underlying risks amid geopolitical tensions. The only public fund investing in silver futures in mainland China, UBS SDIC Silver Futures Fund, a listed open-ended fund (LOF), will be suspended for the whole day on Friday, the second such halt since January 22. The trading halt also...
China suspended trading of five commodity funds on Friday to curb investment mania in gold, silver and oil and reduce underlying risks amid geopolitical tensions. The only public fund investing in silver futures in mainland China, UBS SDIC Silver Futures Fund, a listed open-ended fund (LOF), will be suspended for the whole day on Friday, the second such halt since January 22. The trading halt also spread to oil LOFs, four of which were halted for an hour up to 10.30am on Friday. Before the halts, fund-management firms had issued multiple alerts about high premium risks. Advertisement The actions came as global investors continued to flock to safe-haven assets amid escalating US conflicts with Europe, South America and the Middle East. The prices of gold and silver broke records multiple times this month, nearing new all-time highs of US$5,600 and US$122 per ounce, respectively, on Thursday in New York. Gold and silver have surged more than 22 per cent and 58 per cent, respectively, in the past 30 days. Advertisement Brent oil also exceeded US$70 per barrel for the first time in about five months on Thursday as US warships headed closer to Iran. “The expanded trade tensions intensify the price volatility of commodities, reflecting weakening confidence in US dominance and the greenback, and tightened control over strategic resources,” said Xu Tianchen, senior economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit. “China’s trading halt and alerts aim to maintain the stability of the capital markets, preventing investors from suffering huge losses.”
Hi, this is Andrea Dudik in Prague. Welcome to our weekly newsletter on what’s shaping economics and investments from the Baltic Sea to the Balkans. You can subscribe here . Prague Prestige When Michal Strnad sold shares in his defense company in an initial public offering last week , he doubled his money overnight. The 33-year-old owner of Czechoslovak Group became the richest person in the regio...
Hi, this is Andrea Dudik in Prague. Welcome to our weekly newsletter on what’s shaping economics and investments from the Baltic Sea to the Balkans. You can subscribe here . Prague Prestige When Michal Strnad sold shares in his defense company in an initial public offering last week , he doubled his money overnight. The 33-year-old owner of Czechoslovak Group became the richest person in the region, with a net worth of $37.7 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The huge leap in his fortune also catapulted him to top of the list of the wealthiest Czechs and shone the spotlight again on how far ahead the country’s superrich are compared with peers in Poland or Hungary. The Czechs now have a combined net worth of $77.9 billion, equivalent to roughly 20% of the nation’s gross domestic product . Strnad has overtaken Renata Kellnerova and family, which owns the PPF Group investment firm. Karel Komarek, whose holdings range from industrial valves to gambling and lotteries, and Daniel Kretinsky, a buyer of energy assets who has expanded into retail , are also among the richest 500 tracked by Bloomberg. By contrast, nobody else from the European Union’s east is included in Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index. Michal Solowow, a Pole who has holdings in a range of industrial companies, doesn’t make the cut. Neither do Lorinc Meszaros, a friend of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban who profited from government contracts , nor OTP Bank’s Sandor Csanyi. The Czech dominance has been in the making for decades. Strnad’s family wealth started with his father, who set up the company in the 1990s by trading Soviet military equipment. The Kellners started amassing their fortune after communism ended and privatization kicked in. Even the prime minister, Andrej Babis, is a billionaire from his agrifoods business. Strnad plans to use proceeds from the IPO to expand his family office, as he told me in an interview in Amsterdam. The focus will be on investments that aren’t r...
Lightboxx/iStock via Getty Images By Warren Patterson , Head of Commodities Strategy and Ewa Manthey , Commodities Strategist Oil prices continue to move higher as tensions build between the US and Iran amid President Trump's threats to attack. Energy: Brent breaks above $70/bbl Oil prices continued their ascent yesterday with ICE Brent rallying 3.38% to settle above US$70/bbl, and its highest lev...
Lightboxx/iStock via Getty Images By Warren Patterson , Head of Commodities Strategy and Ewa Manthey , Commodities Strategist Oil prices continue to move higher as tensions build between the US and Iran amid President Trump's threats to attack. Energy: Brent breaks above $70/bbl Oil prices continued their ascent yesterday with ICE Brent rallying 3.38% to settle above US$70/bbl, and its highest level since August. A range of factors is contributing to the move, including broad USD weakness, Kazakh supply disruptions, and developments in the Middle East. The market is becoming increasingly nervous over potential US action in Iran, with US vessels moving into the region and President Trump threatening an attack if Iran doesn’t make a deal regarding its nuclear programme. Given Trump’s recent rhetoric, one would have to be fairly brave to head into the weekend short the market. Iran’s foreign minister will be visiting Turkey today, with the Turkish government offering to mediate talks between the US and Iran. The oil market is also tighter than many had expected. The strength in the time spreads is at odds with expectations of a large surplus. The forward curve has moved deeper into backwardation this month, with the curve backwardated all the way through to the Aug-27 contract. Meanwhile, the 12-month ICE Brent spread is trading at $5/bbl. This is the strongest level since June 2025, when we last saw US attacks on Iranian nuclear infrastructure. Disruptions to Kazakh oil flows have certainly added to market tightness. There’s been a significant reduction in loadings at the CPC terminal, while repair work was carried out due to drone attacks towards the end of last year. Yet with this repair work complete, loadings should normalise, helping to ease some of the tightness. Another factor contributing to a tighter market than the balance sheet shows includes reduced appetite among some refiners to buy Russian oil amid US sanctions and the EU ban on refined product imports ...
monsitj/iStock via Getty Images One week ago, we discussed the grim run for software stocks, and flash forward seven days, the picture has only gotten worse. Thursday has been a historically brutal session for the S&P 500's Software & Services industry, as it is currently down 8.5% due in no small part to a 12% decline in the industry's (and one of the market's) largest stock, Microsoft ( MSFT ). ...
monsitj/iStock via Getty Images One week ago, we discussed the grim run for software stocks, and flash forward seven days, the picture has only gotten worse. Thursday has been a historically brutal session for the S&P 500's Software & Services industry, as it is currently down 8.5% due in no small part to a 12% decline in the industry's (and one of the market's) largest stock, Microsoft ( MSFT ). Given the steep decline on Thursday, the software group is now trading at fresh local lows and has officially surpassed the 20% threshold from the October high to mark a new bear market. Again, the weakness in MSFT is a key reason for the huge decline given that the S&P 500 is a market-cap weighted index. With that said, though, it is far from the only decliner, nor should it receive all of the blame. As shown below, aside from a few names like IBM rallying on the day, most stocks in the group fell 5-10%. To put Thursday's drop into historical perspective, below we show the daily change in the industry group for each day going back to the start of our data in September 1989. Thursday is the single worst decline since the midst of the covid crash when it fell 9.3% on March 12th and 13.7% on March 16th, 2020. The next big declines as large as Thursday's date back to the Financial Crisis and the dot-com years before that. Even more notable is the decline for software in the context of the broader market. Given Microsoft's huge weight in addition to other heavy hitters such as Oracle ( ORCL ), Palantir ( PLTR ), and Salesforce ( CRM ) to name a few, this industry alone accounts for about a tenth of total S&P 500 weighting. As a result, this group usually moves in the same direction as the rest of the market, especially in the past couple of decades. Thursday marks a historic disconnect, though. The Software & Services industry is underperforming the broader S&P 500 by almost 8 percentage points. There have only been five other days on record with that degree of underperformance...
(RTTNews) - Daito Trust Construction Co.,Ltd. (1878.T, DITTF, DIFTY), on Friday, reported earnings declined despite higher sales in the nine months compared with the previous year. For the nine months ended December 31, net income declined to 76.20 billion yen from 76.87 billion yen in the previous year. Earnings per share were 229.52 yen versus 234.13 yen last year. Operating profit jumped to 106...
(RTTNews) - Daito Trust Construction Co.,Ltd. (1878.T, DITTF, DIFTY), on Friday, reported earnings declined despite higher sales in the nine months compared with the previous year. For the nine months ended December 31, net income declined to 76.20 billion yen from 76.87 billion yen in the previous year. Earnings per share were 229.52 yen versus 234.13 yen last year. Operating profit jumped to 106.59 billion yen from 102.80 billion yen in the prior year. Net sales increased to 1.44 trillion yen from 1.36 trillion yen in the previous year. Looking ahead, the company expected full-year 2026 net sales to be at 1.98 trillion yen. The operating profit is anticipated to be at 135 billion yen for the full year 2026. Net income attributable to the owners of the parent for the full year 2026 is expected to be 95 billion yen. Basic earnings per share is anticipated to be 286 yen for the full year 2026. Daito Trust Construction is currently trading 3.82% higher at JPY 3,123 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
棚網新規｜兩承建商涉上架不合格或未有報告棚網 屋宇署要求即時拆除 To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video 【有線新聞】屋宇署發現兩個地盤承建商違規將棚網上架，已要求承建商拆除。 屋宇署發現，一個新建樓宇地盤的承建商將測...
棚網新規｜兩承建商涉上架不合格或未有報告棚網 屋宇署要求即時拆除 To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video 【有線新聞】屋宇署發現兩個地盤承建商違規將棚網上架，已要求承建商拆除。 屋宇署發現，一個新建樓宇地盤的承建商將測試結果不合格的棚網批次上架，另一個現存樓宇維修承建商，在未取得棚網檢測合格報告之前便把棚網上架，兩個承建商並非透過建造業議會採購棚網，涉嫌未有遵從《作業備考》要求，屋宇署已立即要求承建商把棚網拆除，正調查違規情況，會按調查採取懲處行動。
(RTTNews) - Keppel DC REIT (KPDCF, AJBU.SI) reported higher profit and revenues in its fiscal 2025. Looking ahead, the company said the global growth is expected to be 2.6 percent in 2026, down from 2.7 percent in 2025, as easing global financial conditions are offset by trade slowdown and softening domestic demand in major economies. In the year, distributable income grew 55.2 percent to S$268.05...
(RTTNews) - Keppel DC REIT (KPDCF, AJBU.SI) reported higher profit and revenues in its fiscal 2025. Looking ahead, the company said the global growth is expected to be 2.6 percent in 2026, down from 2.7 percent in 2025, as easing global financial conditions are offset by trade slowdown and softening domestic demand in major economies. In the year, distributable income grew 55.2 percent to S$268.05 million from last year's S$172.73 million. Distribution Per Unit was 10.381 cents, up 9.8 percent from 9.451 cents a year ago. Adjusted Distribution Per Unit was 10.629 cents, compared to last year's 9.504 cents. Net Property Income grew 47.2 percent to S$383.26 million from S$260.29 million a year ago. Gross Revenue climbed 42.2 percent to S$441.36 million from prior year's S$310.29 million. In Singapore, Keppel DC REIT shares were trading at S$2.3000, up 2.68 percent. For more earnings news, earnings calendar, and earnings for stocks, visit rttnews.com. The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
Iman Rachman, chief executive officer of the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), speaks to members of the media in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Friday, Jan 30, 2026. Rachman said he will step down following a two-day market rout sparked by MSCI Inc.'s warning of a possible downgrade. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images Indonesian stock exchange CEO Iman Rachman resigned on Friday, following a rout that saw...
Iman Rachman, chief executive officer of the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), speaks to members of the media in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Friday, Jan 30, 2026. Rachman said he will step down following a two-day market rout sparked by MSCI Inc.'s warning of a possible downgrade. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images Indonesian stock exchange CEO Iman Rachman resigned on Friday, following a rout that saw the country's share market lose $84 billion over the past two days on concerns over a possible downgrade by index provider MSCI. In a release , the Indonesian Stock Exchange said Rachman had stepped down, taking responsibility for "recent market condition," without elaborating. At a press conference Rachman said that "I hope this is the best decision for the capital market. May my resignation lead to improvements in our capital market," according to Reuters . "Hopefully, the index, which opened positively this morning, will continue to improve in the coming days," he added. MSCI on Tuesday warned of a potential downgrade of the country to "frontier" market status, from emerging market by MSCI, highlighting concerns over trading transparency. "Investors highlighted that fundamental investability issues persist due to ongoing opacity in shareholding structures and concerns about possible coordinated trading behaviour that undermines proper price formation," MSCI said late Tuesday. The Jakarta Composite rose 1.18% on Friday, after losing 7.35% on Wednesday and another 1.06% on Thursday. The IDX on Wednesday had released a statement saying that it recognised the feedback by MSCI, and reaffirmed its commitment to increase the weighting of Indonesian equities in the MSCI indexes. "This commitment is pursued through continued enhancements in market data transparency, including the provision of more accurate and reliable information," it said.
Riot Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:RIOT) is one of the best high short interest stocks with biggest upside potential. On January 27, Keefe Bruyette analyst Stephen Glagola raised the firm’s price target on Riot Platforms to $23 from $16 while maintaining an Outperform rating, following the company’s 10-year 25MW Data Center Lease and Services Agreement with AMD at its Rockdale facility. Glagola noted tha...
Riot Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:RIOT) is one of the best high short interest stocks with biggest upside potential. On January 27, Keefe Bruyette analyst Stephen Glagola raised the firm’s price target on Riot Platforms to $23 from $16 while maintaining an Outperform rating, following the company’s 10-year 25MW Data Center Lease and Services Agreement with AMD at its Rockdale facility. Glagola noted that this partnership, which is expected to generate ~$311 million in contract revenue, provides Riot Platforms with a high-quality tenant and meaningful organic demand visibility for its HPC and AI strategy. By committing roughly 21% of Rockdale’s capacity to this long-duration operating income profile, Riot Platforms maintains a cost structure that remains structurally below tier-3 builds, positioning the company to capitalize on surging infrastructure demand. Keefe Bruyette Raises Riot Platforms (RIOT) PT to $23, Keeps Outperform Rating After AMD Data Center Lease Deal On January 20, Needham also raised its price target for Riot Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:RIOT) to $30 from $28 with a Buy rating due to the company’s lease with AMD. The firm noted that while the lease economics are lower than those of industry peers, the project offers an attractive yield on cost due to a highly efficient capital expenditure of only $3.6 million per MW. Riot Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:RIOT), together with its subsidiaries, operates as a Bitcoin mining company in the US. While we acknowledge the potential of RIOT as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you’re looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 30 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 11 Hidden AI Stocks to Buy Right Now. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
Astera Labs Inc. (NASDAQ:ALAB) is one of the best performing new tech stocks to buy now. On January 15, Barclays analyst Tom O’Malley raised the price target for Astera Labs to $165 from $155, while maintaining an Equal Weight rating. This decision was made as part of the firm’s 2026 semiconductor sector outlook. O’Malley identified proximity to AI as the primary engine for stock performance in th...
Astera Labs Inc. (NASDAQ:ALAB) is one of the best performing new tech stocks to buy now. On January 15, Barclays analyst Tom O’Malley raised the price target for Astera Labs to $165 from $155, while maintaining an Equal Weight rating. This decision was made as part of the firm’s 2026 semiconductor sector outlook. O’Malley identified proximity to AI as the primary engine for stock performance in the coming year, favoring companies deeply integrated into the AI ramp. He anticipates that high-quality firms will distinguish themselves in 2026, even as the market continues to debate the actual pace and scale of AI deployment. A day before that, RBC Capital initiated coverage on Astera Labs with an Outperform rating and a $225 price target, suggesting that market worries regarding Ethernet and NVLink Fusion were exaggerated. The firm highlighted that Astera’s UALink opportunity remains substantial regardless of which scale-up technologies the industry adopts. Barclays Identifies Astera Labs (ALAB) as Top AI Integration Play for 2026 Expecting High-Quality Firms to Outperform However, earlier on December 16, Bank of America lowered the price target for Astera Labs to $170 from $210 with a Neutral rating as part of a broad update to US semiconductor stock valuations. BofA views 2026 as the midway point of a decade-long transition toward upgrading IT infrastructure for AI-driven workloads. Astera Labs Inc. (NASDAQ:ALAB) designs, manufactures, and sells semiconductor-based connectivity solutions for cloud and AI infrastructure. The company serves hyperscalers and system OEMs. While we acknowledge the potential of ALAB as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you’re looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 30 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 11...