World markets kicked off November in an upbeat mood, riffing off buoyant company earnings and calmer trade relations while batting away OPEC's planned end to output hikes and this week's Supreme Court hearing on President Donald Trump's tariffs. Following last week's meeting between Trump and China's President Xi Jinping in South Korea, the White House announced Saturday that China would lift export controls on rare earths and end probes into U.S. chip firms. But Trump said AI giant Nvidia's most advanced chips would be reserved for U.S. companies and kept out of China and other...
President Donald Trump said he would set levies on semiconductors in the coming two weeks, the latest indication he's readying a substantial expansion of his tariff regime. "I'll be setting tariffs next week and the week after, on steel and on, I would, say chips — chips and semiconductors, we'll be setting sometime next week, week after," Trump told reporters Friday aboard Air Force One en route to Alaska for a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. It wasn't clear if Trump misspoke about steel tariffs. He already hiked duties on steel and aluminum imports to 50% in...
Retail sales in the US increased 0.5% month-over-month in July 2025, in line with market expectations and following an upwardly revised 0.9% rise in June. The largest increases were seen in sales at motor vehicle & parts dealers (1.6%) and furniture & home furn. stores (1.4%). Other gains were seen in sales at sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument, & book store (0.8%), nonstore retailers (0.8%), clothing & clothing accessories stores (0.7%) and gasoline stations (0.7%). Source: Trading Economics
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will measure success at their summit in Alaska very differently, even as both leaders are already looking toward a second meeting. The US president sees any kind of ceasefire in Ukraine as a key objective of the talks. For the Russian leader, getting face time with Trump on American soil without having made any concessions on the war is already a win. Those are the contrasting stakes as both leaders head to Anchorage for their first summit since 2018 in Helsinki. The imbalance points to the perils and opportunities for Trump, who has long cast...
The U.S. Census Bureau will release the country's Retail Sales report on Friday. Market analysts expect headline Retail Sales to grow 0.5% monthly in July, following a slightly higher increase in June, indicating that consumption remains strong. Consumers appear to have flocked to shopping malls, responding to summer sales and seeking to avoid further price increases resulting from higher trade tariffs. Consumer spending unexpectedly recovered in June after a 0.9% decline in May. Retail and food services grew 0.6%, totaling USD 720.1 billion in June, driven by the broad recovery. Excluding...
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin held talks in Alaska on Friday (August 15). The US president's hopes of reaching a ceasefire in Ukraine remain uncertain, but Putin's latest offer of a possible nuclear deal could help both sides save face. The meeting of the Russian and US leaders at a Cold War-era air force base in Alaska, their first face-to-face talks since Trump returned to the White House, comes amid concerns in Ukraine and Europe that Trump may betray Kyiv. Trump, who once said he would end Russia's war in Ukraine within 24 hours, said on Thursday that the three-and-a-half-year...
Asia-Pacific markets traded higher, tracking Wall Street gains overnight.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.41% after hitting a fresh record high on Thursday, while the Topix added 0.61%. South...
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...
As the U.S. government shutdown disrupts federal employee paychecks across the country, it also exacerbates the financial hardship of attorneys who represent the poorest members of society when they...