World shares, U.S. futures gain as most Asian markets stay closed for Lunar New Year holidays
BNN Bloomberg
Shares in Europe and Asia were higher on Wednesday, with Japan’s benchmark gaining more than one per cent after a quiet finish for U.S. stocks.
Germany’s DAX rose 0.6% to 25,137.90, while the CAC 40 in Paris edged 0.2% higher to 8,379.68. Britain’s FTSE 100 added 0.6% to 10,622.73.
The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.5%.
Most markets in Asia stayed closed for Lunar New Year holidays.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 added 1% to 57,143.84 as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi was reappointed by the parliament following a landslide victory for her ruling Liberal Democrats in a Feb. 8 election.
Technology companies led the advance, with computer chipmaker Tokyo Electron gaining 2.9%.
Global food and beverage companies from PepsiCo to Coca-Cola are focusing on shorter ingredient lists and smaller pack sizes in 2026 as more people take appetite-suppressing GLP-1 drugs for weight loss.
Top picks from Michael Hakes, Senior Portfolio Manager, Murray Wealth Group
Parents can use a Registered Education Savings Plan to pay for their children’s post-secondary education while growing their savings tax deferred as tuition costs continue to rise, a financial advisor says.
YouTube Canada outlines ad-driven growth, subscription expansion and fraud controls as streaming leadership challenges Netflix and traditional TV.
An arbitrator reviewing wages for flight attendants at Air Canada has finalized rates at the airline, bringing an end to the labour dispute that saw travel disrupted for thousands of people last summer.
Here are five things you need to know this morning.
Shares in Europe and Asia were higher on Wednesday, with Japan’s benchmark gaining more than one per cent after a quiet finish for U.S. stocks.
A deeper look at the cost of living shows Atlantic Canadians facing higher inflation and steeper grocery bills than much of the country.
Canada has failed both to adequately fund its military and to build up the domestic defence industry, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday as he rolled out an ambitious new plan to grow the defence sector.
Five years after Warren Buffett sold off all of Berkshire Hathaway’s newspapers and predicted unending declines for most of the industry, Berkshire disclosed a new US$350 million investment in the New York Times on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has made a series of claims recently about how much the federal government’s support for tariff-stricken industries has protected jobs in Canada.
A quiet finish for the U.S. stock market on Tuesday masked big swings underneath the surface as companies talked about how discouraged their customers are feeling and some tech stocks continued to feel the downside of the artificial-intelligence boom.
A new report says development charges can add up to $200,000 to new home costs and calls for new ways to finance housing infrastructure.