The US Dollar Index (DXY) continued its rise for the third consecutive session and hovered around 98.60 in European trading on Friday (December 19). Market participants are now awaiting the release of the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for December, which could provide additional clues about the direction of the economy and the dollar's movement. Despite its strength, the dollar's upside is considered limited as markets increasingly consider the possibility of a Fed interest rate cut after US inflation fell below forecasts. Data showed that US CPI in November slowed to 2.7%...
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that abandoning uranium enrichment was "100%" against the country's interests, rejecting a central U.S. demand in talks to resolve a decades-long dispute over Tehran's nuclear ambitions. The U.S. proposal for a new nuclear deal was presented to Iran on Saturday by Oman, which has mediated talks between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff. After five rounds of talks, several hard-to-bridge issues remain, including Iran's insistence on maintaining uranium enrichment...
Industry executives are warning that U.S. President Donald Trump's recent 50% tariffs on aluminum imports may be too much for consumers to swallow and could destroy demand. "We're concerned about the potential demand destruction" of the levies, especially at current levels, Derek Prichett, senior vice president of global metals at Novelis Inc., said at the 17th Harbor Aluminum summit in Chicago. "Overall, it's a drag," Prichett said, adding that his company's Canadian-U.S. operations have been particularly affected by the tariffs. The Atlanta, Georgia-based company is the largest maker of...
President Donald Trump said Russian leader Vladimir Putin warned him that he would retaliate for a recent Ukrainian drone strike on a Russian airfield in a phone call Wednesday, signaling further complications in U.S. efforts to broker a cease-fire. "It was a good conversation, but not one that will lead to immediate Peace," Trump said of the call, which lasted more than an hour, in a social media post. "President Putin said, and very emphatically, that he must respond to the recent attack on the airfield." Trump said the pair also discussed ongoing nuclear talks with Iran and that the...
In a post published on Truth Social on Wednesday (04/06), United States President Donald Trump called on Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell to cut policy interest rates. "ADP NUMBERS ARE OUT!!! "Too late" Powell must now LOWER RATES. He's been great!!! Europe has cut NINE TIMES," Trump said. Earlier in the day, data published by Automatic Data Processing (ADP) showed that private sector payrolls rose by just 37,000 in May, marking the lowest reading since March 2023. This reading missed market expectations of 115,000 by a wide margin. Market reaction The US Dollar (USD)...
Private business in the US added 37K workers to their payrolls in May 2025, the lowest since March 2023, compared to a downwardly revised 60K in April and forecasts of 115K. The services sector added 36K jobs, led by leisure/hospitality (38K), financial activities (20K) and information (8K) while job losses occurred in professional/business services (-17K), education/health (-13K) and trade/transportation/utilities (-4K). Also, the goods producing sector lost 2K jobs as falls in natural resources/mining (-5K) and manufacturing (-3K) offset a rise of 6K jobs in construction. "After a strong...
Alarm over China's stranglehold on critical minerals grew on Tuesday as global automakers joined their U.S. counterparts to complain that restrictions by China on exports of rare earth alloys, mixtures and magnets could cause production delays and outages without a quick solution. German automakers became the latest to warn that China's export restrictions threaten to shut down production and rattle their local economies, following a similar complaint from an Indian EV maker last week. China's decision in April to suspend exports of a wide range of rare earths and related magnets has...
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a proclamation raising his tariffs on steel and aluminum to 50% from 25%, making good on his earlier threat of higher levies on the two commodities. Trump said that the move was aimed at bolstering U.S. national security, which he claimed was compromised by the country's heavy dependence on steel and aluminum imports. The higher duties will be effective from Wednesday. "I have determined that it is necessary to increase the previously described steel and aluminum tariffs to adjust the imports of steel and aluminum articles and their derivative...
U.S. President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Tuesday making official his vow to double tariffs on steel and aluminum, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters in a briefing. Trump on Friday announced that he would increase tariffs on the two metals from 25% to 50%. On Monday, U.S. steel and aluminum prices jumped while shares of foreign steelmakers fell. Source : Reuters
Gold rises in the early Asian trade. There's a broad commodities uptrend, driven by macro uncertainty, a weaker dollar, and persistent demand for "hard" assets, says Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst...
Oil extended declines after OPEC+ agreed to a bigger-than-expected production increase next month, raising concerns about oversupply just as US tariffs fan fears about the demand outlook.
Brent...
The Japanese Yen (JPY) weakened against its US counterpart and reversed part of Friday's recovery from the lowest level since July 23 following Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda's remarks....