President Donald Trump locked horns with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell during a rare presidential visit to the U.S. central bank on Thursday, criticizing the cost of renovating two historical buildings at its headquarters and pressing the case for lower interest rates. Trump, who called Powell a "numbskull" earlier this week for failing to heed the White House's demand for a large reduction in borrowing costs, wrapped up his visit to the Fed's $2.5 billion building project in Washington by saying he did not intend to fire Powell, as he has frequently suggested he would. "To do so is...
The dollar index fell by about 0.7% to 100.1 on Monday, retreating further from the one-month highs reached last week, as growing concerns over the US fiscal outlook triggered a shift away from dollar-denominated assets. On Friday, Moody's downgraded the US credit rating from Aaa to Aa1, citing rising government debt and a widening budget deficit. Fiscal concerns were further exacerbated by the approval of President Trump's tax-cut legislation by a key congressional committee on Sunday. The bill includes hundreds of billions of dollars in new tax cuts without corresponding spending...
The Pound Sterling (GBP) trades higher against its major peers, except the Euro (EUR), at the start of the week. The British currency moves higher ahead of the European Union (EU)-United Kingdom (UK) trade summit in London on Monday. Investors will pay close attention to a potential trade deal as it will strengthen economic ties between the economies since the announcement of Brexit. According to comments from the Head of Trade Policy at the British Chamber of Commerce, William Bain, in a Jefferies-hosted session over the weekend, the potential deal between the UK and the EU would benefit...
Oil slipped on Monday, weighed down by Moody's downgrade of the U.S. sovereign credit rating and official data that showed slowing growth in China's industrial output and retail sales. Both developments raised concerns over the outlook for the world's two biggest economies and oil consumers a week after Beijing and Washington's agreement to roll back most tariffs on each other's goods pushed oil prices higher. "The timing is damaging," John Evans of oil broker PVM said of the U.S. rating cut. "The change may see limited impact and its effect might be a creep of monetary disease rather than...
Gold prices climbed on Monday as a softer dollar and renewed trade concerns, following U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's reaffirmation of President Donald Trump's tariff threats, fuelled safe-haven demand. Spot gold was up 0.8% at $3,228.47 an ounce, as of 0632 GMT. U.S. gold futures gained 1.4% to $3,232.10. Gold shed more than 2% on Friday and posted its worst week since last November, as increased risk appetite from the U.S.-China trade agreement weighed. The dollar (.DXY), opens new tab slipped 0.5% on Monday, making greenback-priced gold cheaper for overseas currency...
The US dollar index fell slightly to around 100.7 on Monday, following a surprise downgrade of the US government's credit rating. Moody's Ratings announced late Friday that it had stripped the US of its top credit rating, lowering it to Aa1, due to concerns about the nation's growing $36 trillion debt, in a move that could complicate President Trump's efforts to cut taxes. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dismissed the cut's significance on Sunday, saying the administration would spur economic growth that would outpace the national debt. He also warned trade partners that they would face the...
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...
President Donald Trump locked horns with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell during a rare presidential visit to the U.S. central bank on Thursday, criticizing the cost of renovating two historical...