The Japan Times - US stocks end at records again as Trump and Xi talk

Wall Street's three main indices finished the week at records for the second day in a row, extending a rally after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates on Wednesday for the first time in 2025.

"Traders are satisfied" with the Fed's decision, said FHN Financial's Chris Low.

The Fed on Wednesday lowered interest rates by 25 basis points and signaled it could cut two more times in 2025. The central bank explained its move as a response to weaker job data, adding that future decisions would depend on how the economy evolves.

But Jack Ablin of Cresset Capital Management noted that the rise in US Treasury yields represents a source of concern.

"I'm going to celebrate the equity records but the market is expensive and the 10-year yields is moving higher," Ablin said. "That's something we need to pay attention to."

Earlier, Europe's main indices ended the day little changed or slightly lower.

Markets greeted a phone call between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping that included discussion on selling blockbuster app TikTok.

Shortly before European markets closed, Trump said he made progress in his call on a deal for the social networking platform TikTok, though he stopped short of announcing a deal.

"We made progress on many very important issues including Trade, Fentanyl, the need to bring the War between Russia and Ukraine to an end, and the approval of the TikTok Deal," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

He has repeatedly put off a ban under a law designed to force TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell its US operations for national security reasons.

The call came after high-level discussions between Washington and Beijing officials in Madrid, where they addressed trade ahead of a November tariff deadline.

Trump said Friday that he would meet Xi at an Asia-Pacific summit in South Korea in just over a month, and visit China himself next year.

Meanwhile, the British pound retreated after official data showed that UK government borrowing had reached its highest level since the Covid pandemic.

In Asia, Tokyo led losses among major indices on expectations that Japan's central bank would hike interest rates this year after leaving borrowing costs unchanged Friday.

Before the announcement, official data showed that inflation in Japan, the world's fourth-largest economy, slowed in August, with rice price increases easing following a spike that had rattled the country's government.

Among individual companies, Apple jumped 3.2 percent as the tech giant's launch of new iPhones was greeted with long lines at retail outlets, suggesting strong demand for the devices.

- Key figures at around 2030 GMT -

New York - Dow: UP 0.4 percent at 46,315.27 (close)

New York - S&P 500: UP 0.5 percent at 6,664.36 (close)

New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.7 percent at 22,631.48 (close)

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 9,216.67 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: FLAT at 7,853.59 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.2 percent at 23,639.41 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.6 percent at 45,045.81 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: FLAT at 26,545.10 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.3 percent at 3,820.09 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1745 from $1.1788 on Thursday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3472 from $1.3555

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 147.90 yen from 148.00 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 87.18 pence from 86.96 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.1 percent at $66.68 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.4 percent at $62.68 per barrel

burs-jmb/des

T.Sato--JT