Indonesia's sovereign wealth fund, Danantara, plans to sign a USD 8 billion engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract with US engineering firm KBR Inc. to build 17 modular refineries, according to two sources familiar with the matter and an official presentation by the Economic Ministry, as reported by Reuters. The contract is part of a trade pact reached last week between Indonesia and the US, which resulted in a reduction of proposed US tariffs, from 32% down to 19%. Indonesia's Economic Minister, Airlangga Hartarto, who served as chief negotiator for the deal, revealed...
The AUD/USD pair corrects sharply to near 0.6450 in Tuesday's European session from the five-month high of 0.6500 posted on Monday. The Aussie pair retraces as the Australian Dollar (AUD) underperforms across the board due to a slowdown in business activity in China. Signs of moderate growth in economic activities in China weigh heavily on the Aussie Dollar, given Australia's significant reliance on its exports to Beijing. Caixin Manufacturing and Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) data for April have demonstrated that businesses are facing pressure due to the fallout of higher...
The euro held steady around $1.13, slightly below the nearly three-year high reached in April, continuing to benefit from broad dollar weakness. Traders remained focused on the ongoing trade war, particularly negotiations between the US and several Asian countries, while talks with China appeared to have stalled. Meanwhile, Friedrich Merz faced an unexpected setback after failing to secure election as German Chancellor in the first round of parliamentary voting. Although the next steps remain uncertain, it potentially delayed Merz's swearing-in. His CDU-led coalition with the centre-left...
Oil rose from its lowest close in four years after a technical gauge suggested the recent crude decline may have been overdone. Brent rose to trade near $61 a barrel after falling nearly 10% over the past six sessions, and West Texas Intermediate rose to around $58. Both benchmarks recently fell into oversold territory on the nine-day relative strength index and breached the lower Bollinger Bands, both pointing to a market that has fallen too fast. China's markets are also reopening after a holiday. There are also signs that lower oil prices are starting to impact supplies outside the...
Gold prices extended sharp gains in Asian trade on Tuesday (06/05) as safe-haven demand for bullion revived after the announcement of new US tariffs, while investors remained cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting starting later in the day. At 02:16 ET (06:16 GMT), spot gold was up 1% at $3,366.95 an ounce, while gold futures expiring in June jumped 1.5% to $3,373.75 an ounce. The yellow metal surged nearly 3% on Monday, erasing most of its losses recorded last week. Gold prices hit a record high last month, just above $3,500 an ounce. Gold rises on new Trump tariffs; Fed...
The dollar struggled to make headway on Tuesday as an unprecedented two-day surge in its Taiwanese counterpart spilled over to other regional peers and highlighted the fragility of the U.S. currency. The past two-day sharp moves in the Taiwan dollar subsided during the session, but Hong Kong's de-facto central bank intervened to stop the local currency from strengthening and China's yuan jumped in its return from an extended break. Investors were also awaiting actual progress in trade negotiations with the United States and evidence of a thaw in Sino-U.S. relations, as opposed to just...
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...
Indonesia's sovereign wealth fund, Danantara, plans to sign a USD 8 billion engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract with US engineering firm KBR Inc. to build 17 modular...