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...
The economic activity in the US service sector continued to expand in January, albeit at a softer pace than in December, with the ISM Services PMI declining to 52.8 from 54. This reading came in below the market expectation of 54.3. Other details of the report showed that the Prices Paid Index, the inflation component, dropped to 60.4 from 64.4, while the Employment Index edged higher to 52.3 from 51.3. Market reaction The US Dollar stays under selling pressure following these data. At the time of press, the US Dollar Index was down 0.6% on the day at 107.35. Source : Fxstreet
Private sector employment in the US rose 183,000 in December and annual pay was up 4.7% year-over-year, the Automatic Data Processing (ADP) reported on Wednesday. This reading followed the 176,000 (revised from 122,000) increase recorded in December and came in above the market expectation of 150,000. Assessing the survey's findings, "we had a strong start to 2025 but it masked a dichotomy in the labor market," said Nela Richardson, chief economist, ADP. "Consumer-facing industries drove hiring, while job growth was weaker in business services and production." Market reaction The US...
Italy's data protection authority, the Garante, said on Thursday it had ordered DeepSeek to block its chatbot in the country after the Chinese artificial intelligence startup failed to address the regulator's concerns over its privacy policy. The watchdog had questioned DeepSeek this week about its use of personal data, particularly seeking informationon what personal data is collected, from which sources, for what purposes, on what legal basis and whether it is stored in China. The Garante's order - aimed at protecting Italian users' data - came after the Chinese companies that supply the...
The number of job openings on the last business day of December stood at 7.6 million, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported in the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) on Tuesday. This reading followed the 8.15 million openings announced in November and came in below the market expectation of 8 million. "Over the month, hires and total separations were little changed at 5.5 million and 5.3 million, respectively. Within separations, quits (3.2 million) and layoffs and discharges (1.8 million) changed little," the BLS noted in its press release. Market reaction to JOLTS...
China is the world's top energy importer but its purchases from the United States are relatively modest, lessening the impact of Beijing's move Tuesday to impose retaliatory tariffs on U.S. crude oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and coal. Shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on China took effect Tuesday, China's Finance Ministry said it would impose levies of 15% on U.S. coal and LNG imports and 10% on crude oil as well as farm equipment and some cars, starting Feb. 10. China's U.S. crude oil imports fell 52% to about 230,540 barrels per day (bpd) in the first 11 months of...
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.
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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...