Japanese shares closed higher on Friday, while the Nikkei index reached a two-week high, on hopes of recovering corporate earnings and gains in semiconductor stocks as companies appear to be ramping up production to address a global chip shortage. The Nikkei rose 1.58% to close at 29,854 points. The broader …

Russia’s production of oil and gas condensate rose to 10.25 million barrels per day in March from 10.1 million barrels per day in February, according to Reuters calculations based on a report by the Interfax news agency based on data from the Energy Ministry on Friday. The recovery of Russian …

Oil prices jumped more than 3% Thursday after OPEC+ reached an agreement to gradually ease production restrictions from May. Brent crude rose $ 1.94, or 3.1 percent, to $ 64.68 a barrel. U.S. crude rose $ 2.10, or 3.6 percent, to $ 61.26 a barrel. OPEC +, which includes the …

The business activity in the US manufacturing sector grew at its strongest pace since 1983 with the ISM Manufacturing PMI rising to 64.7 in March from 60.8. This reading came in better than the market expectation of 61.3.

The business activity in Canada’s manufacturing sector continued to expand at a robust pace in March with the IHS Markit Manufacturing PMI rising to 58.5 from 54.8 in February.

Planned job cuts in the US-based employers dropped to 30,603 in March from 34,531 in February, Challenger Gray & Christmas announced in its latest Job Cut Report on Thursday. This reading represented an 86% decline from the 222,288 job cuts announced in the same month last year when businesses were …

There were 719,000 initial claims for unemployment benefits in the US during the week ending March 27, the data published by the US Department of Labor (DOL) revealed on Thursday. This reading followed the previous print of 658,000 (revised from 684,000) and came in worse than the market expectation of …

Copper fell to its lowest level in six weeks below $4 a pound, weighed by worries about demand from consuming China as well as supply disruptions after the Caixin survey showed that Chinese manufacturing activity in March expanded unexpectedly at the slowest pace in nearly a year. Copper prices fell …

The monthly growth of factory activities in the euro area increased at the fastest pace in the history of an important survey of companies extending to nearly 24 years last month, but disruptions in supply chains and renewed general isolation measures in the region may curb activity soon. With Europe …

The UK manufacturing sector activity quickened its pace of expansion in the month of March, the final report from IHS Markit confirmed on Thursday. The seasonally adjusted IHS Markit/CIPS UK Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) was revised higher to 58.9 in March versus 57.9 expected and 57.9 first readout.