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International
Oil, Earnings, Trump-Xi Outlooks Roil Asian Stock Markets
Asian stock markets churned on Tuesday, as investors mulled the earnings season, rising crude prices, and the pending summit between US President Donald Trump and China leader Xi Jinping.Brent crude oil struck $107.67 a barrel, up 3.3% during Asian trading hours, as Persian Gulf turmoils continued to rattle oil markets.Tokyo finished in the green, while Hong Kong and Shanghai fell back. Other regional exchanges were similarly mixed.In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened evenly, wobbled, but finished up 0.5% on strength in tech issues and a generally solid earnings season.The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 324.69 to 62,742.57, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 124 to 99.Leading the upside was Furukawa Electric, gaining 16.1% after reporting earnings, while social-media platform LY Corporation declined 8.6%.In economic news, Japan's leading index of business conditions rose to 114.5 in March from 113.2 in February, striking the highest level since April 2022, reported the Cabinet Office.In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened steadily but declined to those close, finishing off 0.2% as investors awaited clarity ahead of the Trump-Xi meeting.The broad gauge Hang Seng fell 58.93 to 26,347.91 as losing issues outnumbered gainers 48 to 40. The Hang Seng TECH Index lost 0.7% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index fell 0.5%.Leading the upside was Xinyi Glass, gaining 4.5%, while computer-maker Lenovo declined 3.4%.On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.3% to 4,214.49.On the other regional exchanges, the South Korean KOSPI fell 2.3%; the Taiwan TWSE inclined 0.3%; the Australian ASX 200 declined 0.4%; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.1%, and the Thai Set declined 0.4%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was down 1.9%.The MSCI All Country Asia Pacific Index fell 0.7% on the day.
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International
NFIB April US Small Business Index Ticks Higher, Economic Expectations Lower
The National Federation of Independent Business's monthly Small Business Optimism Index rose slightly to a reading of 95.9 in April from 95.8 in March and 95.8 a year earlier."Inflationary pressures continue to be a challenge for Main Street," said NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. "While small business optimism is currently fragile, the benefits of the Working Families Tax Cut Act should start to feed into the private sector over the next few months."There were monthly increases in seven of the 10 component measures, compared with three decreases.The largest increase was seen in the measure of the earnings trend, which rose by six percentage points to a net minus 19%, followed by three percentage point gains to current inventory measures (to a net minus 2%) and plans to raise inventories (to a net minus 2%).A net positive reading indicates that more respondents expect an increase than those expecting a decrease, and vice versa for a net negative reading.The measure of current jobs opening rose by two percentage points to a net of 34%, plans to increase employment rose by one percentage point to 13%, plans to make capital outlays rose by one percentage point to a net 17% and expected credit conditions rose by one percentage point to minus 4%.Providing some offset, the reading for economic expectations fell by seven percentage points to a net 4%, sales expectations fell by four percentage points to a net 3% and timing for expansion fell by four percentage points to 7%.Price gains accelerated in April, and pricing plans suggest that further gains are expected.
International
U.S. Energy Production Sets New Record in 2025 for 4th Consecutive Year, EIA Reports
U.S. energy production hit a new record high of 107 quadrillion British thermal units in 2025, up 3.4% from the previous record set in 2024, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in a Monday note, citing its most recent Monthly Energy Review.Production was driven by record-high production in natural gas, crude oil, natural gas plant liquids and renewables, the EIA noted. This was the fourth consecutive year of record energy production for the U.S.Dry natural gas output rose more than 4% year over year to 39 trillion cubic feet in 2025, with most of the growth occurring in the Appalachia, Permian and Haynesville regions, the EIA said.Crude oil production grew 3% to 13.6 million barrels per day from 2024. Most of the growth comes from the Permian region of western Texas and southeastern New Mexico.Production of NGPLs, or hydrocarbons separated as liquids during natural gas processing, climbed 7% to 4 trillion cubic feet year over year. Like oil and natural gas output, NGPLs production also hit a new record in 2025, according to the agency.
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