U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met with BlackRock Inc executive Rick Rieder in New York on Friday, as the Trump administration continued its search for a new chair for the Federal Reserve, a source familiar with the matter said. Bessent has now spoken with four of the 11 candidates on the administration's list of candidates to replace Fed chair Jerome Powell, whose term expires in May, the source said. Bloomberg first reported Bessent's meeting with Rieder, BlackRock's CIO of fixed income, and called him a rising contender for the post. The two met for two hours and discussed...
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 was the softest contraction in the sequence, with output rising the most in three months (51.0 vs 50.7 in May), supported by a trade deal with the US and Beijing's ongoing efforts to stimulate domestic demand and bolster the sluggish economy. Additionally, new orders grew for the first time in three months (50.2 vs 49.8), while foreign sales fell the least in three months (47.7 vs 47.5). A...
Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araqchi indicated on Friday that Tehran may reject any request by the head of UN nuclear watchdog the IAEA for visits to Iranian nuclear sites. "(IAEA head Rafael Grossi's) insistence on visiting the bombed sites under the pretext of safeguards is meaningless and possibly even malign in intent," Araqchi wrote in a post on X. "Iran reserves the right to take any steps in defense of its interests, its people, and its sovereignty." The IAEA earlier said in a statement: "(Grossi) emphasised the need for IAEA inspectors to continue their verification activities in...
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday the Trump administration's various trade deals with other countries could be done by the Sept. 1 Labor Day holiday, citing talks with 18 main U.S. trading partners and new revisions to a deal with China aimed at expediting rare earths shipments. After a week where tariffs took a back seat to the U.S. strike on Iran's nuclear facilities and the massive tax and spending bill in Congress, the Trump administration's trade negotiations have picked up. The United States sent a new proposal to the European Union on Thursday and India sent a...
The US Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index rose by 0.1% month-over-month in May 2025, the same as in April and in line with expectations. Prices for goods were up 0.1%, the same as in April and prices for services rose 0.2%, above 0.1% in the previous month. The core PCE index, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.2%, above 0.1% in the previous two months and forecasts of 0.1%. Source: Trading Economics
A White House official said late Thursday that the United States has reached an understanding with China on how to speed up rare earth shipments to the U.S., according to the Wall Street Journal. "The administration and China agreed to an additional understanding for a framework to implement the Geneva agreement," a White House official said. The understanding was "about how we can implement the acceleration of rare earth shipments to the U.S. again," Bloomberg quoted U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick as saying, "They're going to ship us rare earths" and "we're going to lift our...
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...
Poland rejected on Friday a suggestion by Donald Trump that Russian drone incursions into its airspace could have been a mistake, a rare contradiction of the U.S. president from one of Washington's...