Federal Reserve Governor Chris Waller, an advocate for an immediate interest rate cut, said on Friday he would accept the job as head of the U.S. central bank if asked by President Donald Trump, but so far Trump has not contacted him about it. "In 2019 the president contacted me and said, 'Would you serve?' And I said yes," Waller told Bloomberg Television, referring to Trump's appointment of him to the Fed's Board of Governors. "If the president contacted me and said, 'I want you to serve,' I would do it. But he has not contacted me." Trump has launched a barrage of nearly daily criticism...
President Donald Trump will decide in the next two weeks whether the U.S. will get involved in the Israel-Iran air war, the White House said on Thursday, raising pressure on Tehran to come to the negotiating table. Citing a message from Trump, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters: "Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks." The Republican president has kept the world guessing on his plans, veering from...
Iran has been weighing its options in responding to its biggest security challenge since the 1979 revolution. A member of the Iranian Parliament's National Security Committee Presidium, Behnam Saeedi, told the semi-official Mehr news agency Iran could consider closing the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of daily global oil consumption passes. Tehran has in the past threatened to close the strait. Shipping sources said on Wednesday that commercial ships were avoiding Iran's waters nearby. Oil prices rose after Israel and Iran continued to exchange missile attacks overnight and Trump's...
Israel bombed nuclear targets in Iran on Thursday and Iranian missiles hit an Israeli hospital overnight, as the week-old air war escalated with no sign yet of an off-ramp. Following the strike that damaged the Soroka medical centre in Israel's southern city of Beersheba, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tehran's "tyrants" would pay the "full price". Defence Minister Israel Katz said the military had been instructed to intensify strikes on strategic-related targets in Tehran in order to eliminate the threat to Israel and destabilise the "Ayatollah regime". Israel's sweeping campaign...
Australia's Unemployment Rate was steady at 4.1% in May from 4.1% in April, official data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed on Thursday. The reading was in line with market consensus. Furthermore, Australia's Employment Change came in at -2.5K in May from 87.6K in April (revised from 89K), compared to consensus estimates of 25K. The participation rate in Australia eased to 67.0% in May, compared to 67.1% in April. Meanwhile, Full-Time Employment increased by 38.7K in the same period from 58.6K in the previous reading (revised from 59.5K). Part-Time Employment...
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday kept interest rates steady amid expectations of higher inflation and lower economic growth ahead, and still pointed to two reductions later this year. With markets expecting no chance of a central bank move this week, the Federal Open Market Committee kept its key borrowing rate targeted in a range between 4.25%-4.5%, where it has been since December. Along with the rate decision, the committee indicated, through its closely watched "dot plot," that two cuts by the end of 2025 are still on the table. However, it lopped off one reduction for both 2026 and...
China's official NBS Manufacturing PMI increased to 49.7 in June 2025 from May's 49.5, matching market expectations while marking the third consecutive month of contraction in factory activity.
It...
Both the STOXX 50 and STOXX 600 hovered around the flatline on Friday, as investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of further developments in trade talks between US President Trump and Chinese...
President Donald Trump said Wednesday he plans to send a single letter to over 150 countries outlining the tariff rate they will face, saying, "It's all going to be the same for everyone, for that...