The US has signaled it will not relax its August 1 deadline for higher tariffs against the European Union as the bloc struggles to reach a deal on time. Over the weekend, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said he was confident a trade deal with the EU could be reached, but cautioned that the deadline for the 30% base tariffs was fixed. "That's a tight deadline, so on August 1, the new tariffs will go into effect," Lutnick said Sunday on CBS News when asked about his EU tariff deadline. He did hint that negotiations could continue beyond that date, stating: "These are the two largest...
Gold held above $2,640 an ounce on Wednesday as markets continued to assess the political and monetary outlook, while closely monitoring key economic data releases. A recent report showed that U.S. job openings were higher than expected, indicating continued resilience in the labor market. Investors now look ahead to Friday's anticipated nonfarm payrolls report, along with additional speeches from several Fed officials to gauge the central bank's potential policy moves this month. The odds for a 25bps rate cut in the federal funds rate currently stand at 73%, which benefits gold by...
The Australian dollar (AUD) moved lower in response to weak domestic Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth figures. Given that headline inflation in Australia has eased to the central bank's target range of 2%-3%, slower growth could put pressure on the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to respond with lower interest rates. Furthermore, fresh US export curbs on China, concerns about China's fragile economic recovery, and tariffs to be imposed by US President-elect Donald Trump turned out to be other factors weighing on the China-proxy Australian currency. On the other hand, the US dollar (USD)...
The Japanese Yen (JPY) traded in the negative territory on Wednesday. Upbeat US Manufacturing PMI data and this week's jobs data indicated that the US economy remains strong, which boosted the greenback. However, traders are increasingly convinced that the Bank of Japan (BOJ) will raise interest rates this month. This, in turn, could support the JPY in the near term. Further, ongoing political uncertainty in France, political tensions in South Korea, and rising geopolitical risks in the Middle East could boost safe-haven flows, benefiting the JPY against the USD. Investors will be keeping...
Oil prices rose more than 2% on Tuesday as Israel threatened to attack the Lebanese state if its truce with Hezbollah collapses, and as investors positioned for OPEC+ to announce an extension of supply cuts this week. Brent crude futures posted their biggest gains in two weeks, rising by $1.79, or 2.5%, to settle at $73.62 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures also rose the most since Nov. 18, gaining $1.84, or 2.7%, to close at $69.94 per barrel. Israeli forces have continued strikes against what they say are Hezbollah fighters ignoring last week's truce agreement in...
Gold moved higher mid-afternoon on Tuesday as the dollar weakened. Gold for February delivery was last seen up US$8.50 to US$2,667.00 per ounce. The precious metal has been mostly rangebound since correcting from a record high of US$2,800.80 on Oct.30, as the dollar surged following the U.S. election and inflation remains stuck above the Federal Reserve's 2% target. However the dollar eased early on Tuesday, with the ICE dollar index last seen down 0.35 points to 106.1. Treasury yields were mixed. The U.S. two-year note was last seen paying 4.159%, down 3.3 basis points, while the yield...
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...
Russia unleashed a renewed attack on Ukraine, targeting the country's central and western regions with drone and missiles as Kyiv's allies pledged increased air defense protection to help shield the...