China Ramps Up Support for Stock Market
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China is ramping up efforts to prop up its stock markets by encouraging state-owned insurers and mutual funds to buy Chinese equities. Officials expect nearly $14 billion to pour into stocks in the first half of the year, though analysts say that Beijing's moves to revive investor confidence are still falling short. Benchmark indexes in mainland China ended the day slightly higher.

NVIDIA supplier SK Hynix has posted stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings thanks to continued strong demand for high-end memory chips that help power AI. Its dominance of that market has pushed its share price almost 60% higher over the past 12 months, though the stock slipped around 3% today in Seoul.

And U.S. inflation is set to rise over the coming year, along with U.S. economic growth, according to the journal's latest survey of economists carried out earlier this month.

It suggests that President Trump's tariffs could pass along higher costs to consumers, leading to projected inflation of 2.7 percent over the coming 12 months, compared with previous forecasts of 2.3 percent, even as the broader economy gathers momentum thanks to strong consumer spending.

Asian stocks have ended the day mixed. European stocks are little changed in midday trading. And in the U.S., stock futures are flat, ahead of earnings from the likes of GE Aerospace, American Airlines, and Texas Instruments. And we've got a lot more coverage of the day's news on the WSJ's What's News podcast. You can add it to your playlist on your smart speaker or listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.