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...
Gold prices fell on Friday as the Greenback trims some of its losses and US Treasury bond yields recover following the release of a US jobs market report. At the time of writing, the XAU/USD trades at $2,907, down 0.11%. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the February Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report, which showed that the economy added more people to the workforce than in January despite missing the mark. The same data showed that the Unemployment Rate remained within familiar levels with Federal Reserve (Fed) Governor Adriana Kugler saying that hiring remains above the...
EUR/USD trades firmly around the fresh four-month high of 1.0850 in Friday's North American session after the release of the softer-than-expected United States (US) Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data for February. The US NFP report showed that the economy added 151K fresh workers, slightly lower than estimates of 160K. However, the pace of labor demand remained higher than what investors saw in January. In the previous month, 125K fresh workers were added, downwardly revised from 143KThe Unemployment Rate accelerated to 4.1%, from estimates and the former release of 4%. Meanwhile, Average Hourly...
The dollar index remained near a four-month low of 103.7 on Friday, marking its fifth straight session of declines, the longest losing streak in nearly a year. Traders were analyzing the payrolls report, which showed that the labor market showed few signs of weakness. The U.S. economy added 151,000 payrolls, slightly lower than the 160,000 expected, the unemployment rate unexpectedly edged up to 4.1% and wage growth eased to 0.3%, as expected. Meanwhile, federal government employment declined by 10,000, but the full impact of the DOGE layoffs has yet to materialize. Additionally, ongoing...
Gold prices edged up on Friday, poised for a weekly gain on safe-haven inflows and a U.S. jobs report that showed weaker-than-expected job growth in February, suggesting the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this year. Spot gold was up 0.3% at $2,918.11 an ounce by 9:24 a.m. (1424 GMT). Bullion has gained more than 2% so far this week, as U.S. President Donald Trump's ever-changing tariff policies fueled uncertainty. U.S. gold futures were steady at $2,925. The U.S. dollar index was on track for its worst weekly performance since Nov. 4, making dollar-priced bullion cheaper for...
Oil rose on Friday but remained on track for its biggest weekly decline since late last year as U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on major trading partners injected volatility and uncertainty into global markets. Brent crude futures rose near $70 a barrel on Friday, helped by a falling dollar and potential U.S. plans to replenish its strategic oil reserves, but are still down more than 3% this week. Trump signed an order Thursday to cut tariffs on Mexico and Canada covered by the trade pact through April 2, just days after the tariffs went into effect. (Newsmaker23) Source: Bloomberg
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.
It...
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...