The economic activity in the United States' (US) manufacturing sector continued to contract in October, with the Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) dropping to 48.7 from 49.1 in September. This reading came in weaker than the market expectation of 49.5. Other details of the PMI report showed that the Employment Index edged higher to 46 from 45.3 in this period, while the New Orders Index improved to 49.4 from 48.9. Finally, the Prices Pair Index, the input inflation component of the survey, declined to 58 from 61.9. Source: FXstreet
Donald Trump's top trade chief, Jamieson Greer, plans to speak with his Chinese counterpart next week, the U.S. president said on Friday amid an escalating tariff war. Talks between the world's biggest economies would occur just days before the long-threatened April 2 unveiling of fresh U.S. tariffs on every country that taxes U.S. imports, potentially including new steps against China. Trump did not say what he hoped the next set of U.S.-China talks would achieve, or whether they might lead to a roll-back of levies on Chinese imports. Trump has imposed 20% levies on all imports from...
President Donald Trump said on Thursday the United States will sign a minerals and natural resources deal with Ukraine shortly and that his efforts to achieve a peace deal for the country were going "pretty well" after his talks this week with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders. Trump made the comments at a White House event after signing an order to increase U.S. production of critical minerals. "We're doing very well with regard to Ukraine and Russia. And one of the things we are doing is signing a deal very shortly with respect to rare earths with Ukraine." Trump referred to his...
US citizens filing new applications for unemployment insurance rose to 223K for the week ending March 15, the US Department of Labor (DOL) reported on Thursday. This missed the preliminary estimate and was slightly higher than the previous week's revised count of 221K (revised from 220K). The report also highlighted the seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate at 1.2%, while the four-week moving average rose by 750 to 227K from the previous week's revised average. Additionally, Continuing Jobless Claims rose by 33K to 1.892 million for the week ending March 8. (Newsmaker23) Source:...
German producer prices rose by 0.7% year-on-year in February 2025, up from 0.5% in January but still below market consensus of 1%. However, this was the fourth consecutive month of producer inflation, mainly driven by higher prices of non-durable consumer goods (3.0%) and durable consumer goods (1.2%).In particular, capital goods costs also rose (2.0%), especially machinery (1.9%) and motor vehicles, trailers, and semi-trailers (1.4%). In addition, intermediate goods prices rose by 0.3%. Excluding energy, producer prices rose by 1.4%. Meanwhile, energy prices shrank by 0.8%, mainly due to...
Australian employment posted a surprise fall in February although the jobless rate stayed unchanged, a soft result that sent the local dollar lower. Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday showed net employment fell 52,800 in February from January. That was well under market forecasts for a 30,000 rise. The jobless rate stayed at 4.1%, matching market expectations. The Australian dollar slipped 0.3% to $0.6341 after the data. Source: Reuters
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...