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...
China cut benchmark lending rates for the first time since October on Tuesday, while major state banks lowered deposit rates as authorities work to ease monetary policy to help buffer the economy from the impact of the Sino-U.S. trade war. The widely expected rate cuts are aimed at stimulating consumption and loan growth as the world's No. 2 economy softens, while still protecting commercial lenders' shrinking profit margins. Still, the size of the rate reductions was mild and reflected the incremental pace of monetary easing in recent years and what analysts interpreted as some wariness...
Ministerial level trade talks between Japan and the U.S. are set to take place later this week– marking the third round of high-level talks between the nations, Japan's Kyodo News agency reported on Tuesday. Kyodo reported that Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's top trade negotiator and minister of economic revitalization, will fly to Washington by Friday to engage in a third round of high-level talks. Kyodo cited comments from a U.S. official. Separately, Akazawa said in a press conference on Tuesday that working level talks took place between Washington and Tokyo on Monday, and that high-level...
China on Monday accused the US of undermining the two countries' preliminary trade agreement after the US issued an industry warning against using Chinese chips that singled out Huawei, per CNBC. According to a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce, the US Commerce Department's advice is "discriminatory" and "market distorting," prompting Beijing to "demand" that the administration "correct its mistakes." China Slams U.S. Huawei Chip Ban as Threat to Trade TruceChina Indicators China has strongly criticized a U.S. directive targeting certain high-end Huawei chips, saying it...
President Donald Trump said that Ukraine and Russia would begin talks "immediately" on ending their war after a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday. "Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War," Trump said in a social-media post. "The conditions for that will be negotiated between the two parties, as it can only be, because they know details of a negotiation that nobody else would be aware of." The US president said he had also briefed European leaders on his two-hour call...
U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tax-cut bill, which had been stalled for days by Republican infighting over spending cuts, won approval from a key congressional committee on Sunday in a rare victory for Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson. At an unusual Sunday night session, four hardline Republican conservatives on the House Budget Committee, who had blocked the legislation on Friday, allowed the bill to move forward as they pressed for deeper spending cuts in closed-door talks with Republican leaders and White House officials. "We've made progress this weekend ... but we didn't...
Following the publication of the high-impact China's April activity data, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) expressed its outlook on the economy during its press conference on Monday. Productivity demand grew steadily. Employment situation generally stable.Economy grew steadily in face of pressure, continues developing in an upward trend. China actively diversifying, expanding trade with Belt and Road initiative nations.But there are many favorable conditions for sustained economic recovery. Although external impact increased in April, the trend of economic recovery did not...
President Donald Trump will impose tariffs at the rate he threatened last month on trading partners that do not negotiate in "good faith" on deals, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in television interviews on Sunday. He did not say what would constitute "good faith" negotiations or clarify the timing to announce any decisions to return a country to the various rates Trump initially imposed on April 2. Trump has repeatedly reversed course since then, notably on April 9, when he lowered his tariff rates on most imported goods to 10% for 90 days to give negotiators time to hash out deals...
Waktu terus berjalan bagi UE untuk mencapai kesepakatan dengan Washington dan menghindari guncangan tarif, tetapi Capital Economics memperingatkan bahwa peluang untuk mencapai terobosan sangat kecil karena defisit perdagangan yang besar dan perpecahan internal blok tersebut mengaburkan pembicaraan. Taruhannya tinggi: jika pembicaraan gagal menghasilkan kesepakatan sebelum batas waktu 9 Juli, hampir semua ekspor UE ke AS—sekitar 70% dari total pengiriman—akan dikenakan pungutan sebesar 20%, naik dari 10% saat ini. "Kami menduga kesepakatan AS-UE tidak akan segera terjadi. AS mungkin kurang...
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....