Renewed tensions between the United States and Russia have resurfaced following an incident involving an oil tanker, sparking market concerns about potential disruptions to global energy supplies. Washington's move, associated with tightening oversight and enforcement of sanctions on Russian oil shipments, is viewed by Moscow as provocative and could worsen relations between the two countries. Russia views these actions as an attempt by the United States to suppress Russian energy exports and strengthen its dominance in the global oil market. Meanwhile, Washington argues that these measures...
Retail sales in the US contracted 0.9% month-over-month in January 2025, much worse than forecasts of a 0.1% drop, and following an upwardly revised 0.7% gain in December. It is the biggest decline in retail sales since March 2023, with severe weather and LA fires weighing on consumer spending. Sales at sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument, & book stores (-4.6%) recorded the biggest decline, followed by motor vehicles and part dealers (-2.8%); nonstore retailers (-1.9%); furniture (-1.7%); building material & garden equipment (-1.3%); clothing (-1.2%); health and personal care...
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday took what could become his most consequential action involving international trade early in his second administration. Trump, who signed a memorandum calling for reciprocal tariffs, told a group of reporters in the Oval Office that "if you build your product in the United States, there are no tariffs." The goal is to bring down America's budget deficit, estimated to be approaching $2 trillion. The president added that the action "is fair to all. No other country can complain." Trump ordered Howard Lutnick and Jamieson Greer, his picks for commerce...
President Donald Trump on Thursday signed a presidential memorandum outlining his plan to impose "reciprocal tariffs" on foreign countries. "They put a tax or a tariff on us and we put a tariff on them," Trump said at a news conference in the Oval Office. The president said that under the plan, the U.S. would treat other countries' non-tariff policies as unfair trade practices that require tariffs in response. That includes value-added taxes, or VATs, and other practices deemed by the U.S. Trade Representative's office to be unfair restrictions on trade. Trump said that foreign countries...
Core producer prices in the United States, which exclude food and energy costs, rose by 0.3% over a month in January 2025, following an upwardly revised 0.4% increase in December, in line with market forecasts. On a yearly basis, core producer inflation was 3.6% in January, down slightly from an upwardly revised 3.7% in December but well above market estimates of 3.3%.Source: Trading Economics
US citizens filing new applications for unemployment insurance rose to 213K for the week ending February 8, as reported by the US Department of Labor (DoL) on Thursday. This print missed initial estimates and was lower than the previous week's revised tally of 220K (from 219K). The report also highlighted a seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate of 1.2%, while the four-week moving average dropped to 216.00K, marking a decrease of 1K from the prior week's revised average.Source: FXStreet
Asian stock markets fell in unison on Thursday, following Wall Street's decline. A brief rally in tech stocks led by Nvidia quickly faded, prompting investors to turn away from riskier assets like...
European stock indices closed marginally lower on Wednesday as equities took a breather from their recent strong momentum, while investors continued to assess the outlook for the ECB's policy this...
The upcoming Supreme Court ruling on the legality of President Donald Trump's massive tariffs, which rocked markets in April, is one of the next major tests for US stocks and bonds.
Equity markets...