The US dollar index fluctuated around 98.4 on Friday (December 19) and is expected to close the week relatively unchanged. Investors are still weighing the chances of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut next year, as inflation continues to decline and signs of weakness in the US labor market emerge. The latest inflation data indicates price pressures are easing. The November CPI report showed headline inflation fell to 2.7%, the lowest since July and below market expectations. Core inflation also weakened to 2.6%, the slowest pace since early 2021. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate rose to...
President Donald Trump's desire to impose new tariffs remains undeterred, even after the courts delivered the most devastating blow to his top job yet. White House officials quickly signaled Thursday that Trump would pursue many of the same levies through other legal authorities if the appeal fails. Meanwhile, the administration is aggressively pushing to overturn the decision, saying it would go to the U.S. Supreme Court as early as Friday if a federal appeals court does not stop the initial ruling from taking effect while the challenge continues. The ruling was "clearly wrong" and "we...
Initial jobless claims in the United States jumped by 14,000 from the previous week to 240,000 on the period ending May 10th, the highest in one month, and above market expectations of 230,000. Additionally, outstanding claims rose by 26,000 to 1,919,000 in the earlier period, well above market expectations that they would ease to 1,890,000, to the highest level since November 2021. Source: Trading Economics
A U.S. trade court blocked President Donald Trump's tariffs from going into effect in a sweeping ruling on Wednesday that found the president overstepped his authority by imposing across-the-board duties on imports from U.S. trading partners. The Court of International Trade said the U.S. Constitution gives Congress exclusive authority to regulate commerce with other countries that is not overridden by the president's emergency powers to safeguard the U.S. economy. "The court does not pass upon the wisdom or likely effectiveness of the President's use of tariffs as leverage," a three-judge...
President Donald Trump's global tariffs have been deemed illegal and blocked by a US trade court, dealing a major blow to a pillar of the Republican Party's economic agenda. The ruling can now be appealed by the Trump administration in federal court. A three-judge panel at the US Court of International Trade in Manhattan ruled Wednesday in favor of Democratic-led states and a group of small businesses that argued Trump had wrongly invoked emergency law to justify the levies. The ruling is one of Trump's biggest setbacks in court amid a wave of lawsuits over executive orders that have...
US President Donald Trump said he warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against a military strike against Iran that could disrupt efforts to broker a deal on Tehran's nuclear program. "I told him this would be inappropriate to do right now, because we're very close to a solution," Trump told reporters Wednesday. "Now that could change at any moment — could change with a phone call, but right now, I think they want to make a deal." The US president added that he believed a deal with Iran could be completed within "the next couple of weeks" and that talks had...
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates Deep in the oil-rich deserts of the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates is on a mission to establish supremacy in the field of artificial intelligence. Seven thousand miles across the planet, the United States, led by President Donald Trump, wants American firms to dominate the global AI race. While their goals may be separated by continents, their ambitions are strikingly aligned. The U.S. currently makes the world's most advanced semiconductor chips, while the UAE and neighboring Gulf countries have the abundant, cheap energy needed to power enormous AI...
Euro zone consumers raised their inflation expectations in April but kept a steady view on price growth further out, highlighting elevated uncertainty amid a global trade war, the ECB's Consumer Expectations Survey showed on Wednesday. Households see inflation at 3.1% over the next year, above the 2.9% predicted a month earlier and also well above the ECB's 2% own target. That reading, however, goes counter to the ECB's own projections that price growth was set to slow given weak economic growth, muted wage increases, lower energy costs and a stronger euro. This combination of muted price...
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that it would cost Canada $61 billion to be part of his proposed "Golden Dome" missile defense system, but that it would be free if the country became the 51st U.S. state. "I told Canada, which very much wants to be part of our fabulous Golden Dome System, that it will cost $61 Billion Dollars if they remain a separate, but unequal, Nation, but will cost ZERO DOLLARS if they become our cherished 51st State," Trump said in a post on Truth.social, claiming that Canada was "considering the offer." Trump's comment comes after Canadian Prime Minister...
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....